Hershey India Celebrates International Women’s Day With Limited Edition Packaging, Celebratory Rap Song And Strategic Partnerships

* The brand amplified its popular ‘HERSHE’ campaign further this year by launching commemorative packs that celebrate Six ‘Unsung Sheroes’ and a one – of - its kind celebratory rap song

Hershey India is proud to recognize, honor and uplift women and girls this month through activations in India and around the world in celebration of International Women’s Day (March 8) to continue to advance its gender equity commitments. The campaign will be going live across seven international markets, aimed at making the invisible woman visible.

The Hershey Company’s award-winning [#HerSHE] campaign, which originated in Brazil in 2020, will be brought alive in India in a never seen before avatar. The renowned chocolate brand has collaborated with six women achievers whose accomplishments have been custom illustrated on the iconic HERSHEY'S chocolate bars. Hershey’s salutes these women and their efforts towards choosing and succeeding in unconventional careers.

As the first step towards unveiling the campaign, Hershey India has taken a unique route of a power-packed celebratory rap song by American Indian Rapper Raja Kumari & Indian musician Meba Ofilia. You can listen to the exciting anthem here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZbSgIxRg3U. This year the brand is leveraging technology to create an online community for curating and showcasing inspiring stories by women and connecting to offline channels via QR code on the packaging. Consumers can scan the QR Code printed on the packaging of HERSHEY’S Bar that will link them to the microsite https://www.hershe.co.in/  The microsite has curated templates, with personalized messaging, that consumers can use to celebrate and share the stories of Sheroes who have inspired them.

Hershey India has joined forces ‘Sheroes’ such as Aishwarya Sridhar, Dhvani Kothari, Sandhya Rai, Rukmini Vijayakumar, Pooja Taparia, and Falguni Vasavda Ojha from diverse fields including Photography, Performing Arts, Social Work, Sports, and Feminism, and dedicated Hershey’s Bars packaging to feature, celebrate and showcase achievements of the Sheroes. To learn more about them, consumers can scan the code on the packs and read about them on the microsite.

Sharing his insights on the renowned global campaign, Herjit Bhalla, VP India and AEMEA, The Hershey Company said, “Diversity and Inclusion has always been at the crux of the Hershey ecosystem. It has been a key focus area for the organization across countries, and the HERSHE campaign brings it all together beautifully for us. This campaign gives a voice to what The Hershey Company truly believes in. By elevating the role played by the sheroes around us we want to make the ‘invisible visible’ through this campaign. While we have featured six sheroes on our packs there are countless number of sheroes out there and the ones we come across in our daily lives. Their determination and grit make them truly extraordinary, and Hershey’s appreciates that.

Expressing her thoughts on the HER-SHE campaign Geetika Mehta, Managing Director, Hershey India said, “As a build up to the International Women’s Day, we have taken a unique voice of celebrating and highlighting HER & SHE, through the #HerShe campaign. The campaign strives to celebrate inspiring stories of Sheroes in our society, who have displayed excellence by either taking the path less travelled or by simply creating a positive impact on people around them. Our idea is to bring alive galvanizing stories by making the ‘invisible visible’!”

Commenting on the campaign’s big idea, Ankit Desai, Marketing Director, Hershey India stated, “The HerShe campaign brings alive unique perspective of make the ‘Invisible Visible’, in line with brand purpose of ‘Celebrating Togetherness’. We have envisioned the ‘HER-SHE’ campaign with an intention to not only celebrate women leaders and achievers but also Sheroes all around us, be it family members, friends, mentors or colleagues. The initiative, which deserves to go to maximum people, leverages an Integrated Experiential approach, spanning packaging take-over of the entire Hershey’s Bar portfolio, personalized and interactive tech-based micro site, AR filters, first of its kind celebratory rap song and influencer outreach to drive education, engagement and thus celebration. Lastly, we intend to have fireside chats on IWD, to enable conversations around d career journeys and many such encouraging stories”

“As a company that embraces diversity and equality, we saw a unique insight into how we can make visible the role of forgotten or somewhat invisible women who make such an important difference in our society,” said Santhi Ramesh, CMO for Hershey International.  “These campaigns celebrate women while communicating our brand values and the values we share with our consumers. The user generated content is real and authentic, and as a result is able to break through and resonate strongly with consumers.”

Further to this, the campaign will culminate with a mentorship session conducted with the six sheroes which will be further amplified by Girl Up.

Hershey’s Ongoing Commitment to Gender Equity

Gender equity is a central focus of The Hershey Company’s diversity, equity and inclusion strategy. Hershey is proud to be led by female CEO Michele Buck, who recognizes her fifth year at the helm this month, and to be named the #1 World’s Top Female-Friendly Companies by Forbes in 2021, recognized for its efforts to create an inclusive culture with benefits such as its Women’s Business Resource Group and a commitment to equal pay. By 2025, Hershey aims to achieve aggregate dollar-for-dollar pay equity for salaried employees worldwide. The company currently reports 48% female representation globally and remains committed to achieving equal representation across its workforce. To learn more about The Hershey Company’s efforts to advance gender equity, click here.

About The Hershey Company

The Hershey Company is headquartered in Hershey, Pa., and is an industry-leading snacks company known for bringing goodness to the world through its iconic brands, remarkable people and enduring commitment to help children succeed. Hershey has approximately 17,000 employees around the world who work every day to deliver delicious, quality products. The company has more than 90 brands around the world that drive more than $8.9 billion in annual revenues, including such iconic brand names as Hershey's, Reese’s, Ice Breakers and many more.

For more than 125 years, Hershey has been committed to operating fairly, ethically and sustainably. Hershey founder, Milton Hershey, created the Milton Hershey School in 1909 and since then the company has focused on helping children succeed.