Coca-Cola Singapore & Singapore Kindness Movement provide guest workers with a moment of happiness
Singapore, 6 May 2014 — Guest workers make up a significant part of Singapore’s total workforce. They are often “invisible workers”, receiving little recognition for their labour. Yet, just like us, all it takes to bring a smile to their faces is a small gesture of appreciation. This March, Coca-Cola Singapore and the Singapore Kindness Movement embarked on a project to bring “Happiness from the Skies”, to show that a little kindness goes a long way to bring Singaporeans and guest workers closer.
“Happiness can spring from even the smallest acts of kindness. It’s really amazing how much good we can achieve with something as simple as a thoughtful gesture and a word of thanks,” shared Michelle Tay, Associate General Secretary of the Singapore Kindness Movement. “As a Movement, we are always looking to support and encourage ground-up kindness initiatives that look to do good in our local communities. With more individuals, and businesses, coming forward to become champions of kindness, we move steadily towards our vision of becoming a kinder and more gracious society.”
As a large majority of these workers tend to be confined to their publicly inaccessible work sites, custom-designed, remote-controlled delivery drones delivered boxes of Coca-Cola cans with photos tied on to them. The photos were taken during a Singapore Kindness Movement collection drive where Singaporeans were asked to write down their thank-yous by writing on boards and holding it up for the cameras. Volunteers then tied the printed photos onto Coca-Cola cans and packed them into boxes.
“At Coca-Cola, we are in the business of sharing happiness all around the world. By using technology in an innovative way, as a service to happiness, we were able to bring together two segments of the community who rarely interact. We also worked alongside the Singapore Kindness Movement, and fulfilled a shared vision of providing the local man-on-the-street with an opportunity to show their appreciation for these guest workers work so hard and far away from home to contribute to the success of Singapore,” said Leonardo O’Grady, ASEAN Director of Integrated Marketing Communications, Coca-Cola.
Happiness is an integral part of being human, and so is finding commonality and gratitude. By sharing moments of happiness between two segments of the community which hardly intersect, “Happiness from the Skies” shows that Singaporeans do appreciate the contributions of guest workers to the community.
“I chose to help out with this initiative because I thought it was a very meaningful cause to champion. I feel that construction workers aren’t given as much gratitude as they should, especially after toiling in the sun all day for the good of building our nation. After collecting the notes, I think that Singaporeans have the heart to care for the guest workers but perhaps there aren’t enough established avenues right now to do so,” said Jacqueline Gwei Liling, Volunteer at Singapore Kindness Movement.
To check out the Happiness from the Skies video, visit https://youtu.be/tjIlipIj0pw
Can you explain how safe this was? It looks fake to me, but can the Singapore Kindness movement verify just how many safety violations you broke sending this weight up to the Ogilvy published 35th floor of a skyscraper? From the numbers published on this film from Ogilvy it looks like these drones took thousands of trips. The safety of the workers again in jeopardy. Just another stunt by an ad agency seeking award fame at the expense of others. Get real.
Hi Jeff. The drone was flown as described in the press release and the necessary safety precautions were taken. As an example, all crew underwent a training safety training course in order to enter the site, and complied with the strict guidelines provided by the site’s management that safeguarded the safety of both the crew and the workers. SKM gave our support to this initiative as we are behind the meaningful message of connecting Singaporeans with the construction worker community and bringing out the goodwill that many locals feel but seldom express. Through the simple gesture in the video, we hope it inspires more Singaporeans to see the workers as an invaluable part of our community and treat them with kindness. Thanks for sharing your feedback with us, it is much appreciated.
I think this film is very exploitive of our foreign workers. Why is there a video made of this? You should have used those thousands of dollars to really give them something. Couldn’t coke do this on its own? Why did this design agency go to the Singapore Kindness Movement to do this? How many hours and employees did the Singapore Kindness movement use to do this? Something isn’t right here I agree. Nowhere near safe.
David, thank you for your concern. SKM agreed to participate in this video because we support the meaningful message of building bridges between the construction worker community and the rest of Singapore. SKM’s involvement was non-monetary. Our staff and volunteers spent a few hours each over three days in March (including a Saturday), depending on their other commitments.
Safe? It wasn’t safe at all. Look at the flimsy construction of the bracket mechanism. This is an obvious joke. Wall Street Journal is now picking up this story and will soon be showing the Singapore Kindness Movement as part of the exploitive Ogilvy Machine. Just how much money did you pay Ogilvy to do this? Shouldn’t your funds be used in other ways? Other than giving the poorest people in the country some sugar in a can? Who paid for this? Other than these poor exploited workers. This is what we all want to know.
Don, thank you for your questions. The production people ensured that all the necessary safety precautions were taken in strictest compliance with both worksite and drone delivery regulations. SKM’s involvement was non-monetary. Our staff and volunteers helped collect photos of messages addressed to the workers, which were attached to the cans that were distributed. We were encouraged that almost everyone we approached did not hesitate to stop and take time to write, happy to reach out and convey thanks to the guest construction workers.
This is disgusting. What did you pay Ogilvy to do this? Why did Coke need SKM to be involved? Is it really because Coke wanted to distance itself from this project, and smartly so. You’ve been suckered by this advertising agency. You need to protect your good name and take away your support. I see one staff helping with this. Can you verify how many times this happened?
Hi Earltan, to clarify, SKM did not pay any money for this project, our involvement is as stated in previous answers to David and Dan above. Not sure what you mean by Coke distancing itself, as they are clearly identified as a co-owner of the project.
This is very sad to exploit these workers like this. The online community is hating this and frankly so am I. I wonder what Coke is saying about this. What a shame to drag in the SKM. Can you tell us at least how many Cokes were delivered? This film says over 2,000. Is this true?
Thank you for your feedback. 2,374 can drinks, each accompanied with a handwritten note of thanks, were distributed to the construction workers at the South beach site.
Thank you for reaching out to the foreign workers here. You have made them a little happier by what you have done. That is what kindness is. Not trying to change what we can’t (corporations of course want advertising) but touching lives in what little ways we can.
To those who are criticizing: you choose to focus on the evils of corporations instead of the happiness it has brought. What a sad way to live. Don’t tell me you own nothing branded. Don’t tell me you have never watched an advertisement. What have *you* done to make things better for these workers? Which has made more of a difference? Your keyboard tapping or the Advert?
If you have done things to help these workers, then good. I applaud you and withdraw my statements.
If you haven’t, then get off your moral high horse, stop being a keyboard critic and start doing some volunteering or something tangible.
Thanks for spreading a little cheer. Thumbs up.
Joshua and Thumbs Up (and others who have posted your comments on YouTube and elsewhere), thanks for your support, glad you liked it.
A rather craven and disgusting exploitation of foreign workers.