MUMBAI: Friendship Day 2020 would be one to remember as we won’t really be able to meet our friends, but that doesn’t mean we can’t spread our love virtually! This year McDowell’s No1 Soda through its music platform No.1 Yaari Jam is giving all the Yaars across the world an interesting way to celebrate Friendship Day, after all, what is Friendship Day if you can’t meet and give your friends a bear hug?

It is time to give your Yaar a virtual hug and tell them, #TuMeraNo1Yaar

The occasion is also bringing back the original hit, “Ye No1 Yaari hai”, in an all-new avatar- the song composed by Mohit Chauhan, will now feature over 50 artists including Vicky Kaushal, Siddharth Mahadevan, Benny Dayal, Shalmali Kholgade, Neeti Mohan, Shilpa Rao, Nikita Gandhi and more to give their yaars a virtual hug and award them with the title of “#TuMeraNo1Yaar”. Through the song and the artists, Yaars who are miles away from each other will now be able to send each other a virtual hug in various forms- from caricatured hugs and specially curated filters to GIFS featuring the artists!

The 360-degree activation will see the campaign leveraging the power of celebrities, influencers, TV, OTT platforms and more to drive up the excitement around the occasion of Friendship Day. While the times may have changed and yaars have been away, it has only made them come together stronger than ever. McDowell’s No.1 Soda, through the music platform McDowell’s No.1 Yaari Jam, looks to encourage everyone to thank their yaars for making these times more bearable, by giving them a tight squeeze digitally – a safe virtual hug.

Talking about this exciting campaign Amarpreet Anand, Executive Vice President and Portfolio Head at Diageo India said, “McDowell’s No1 has always been an enabler of friendships through the years. Every year, we look at bringing something new that excites our consumers and gets them closer to their yaars. This year, through the #TuMeraNo1Yaar campaign, we aim to rekindle the spirit of Friendship Day. Our goal is to encourage friends across the globe to come together albeit virtually and express their gratitude to each other during these unprecedented times. Also, the original song by Mohit Chauhan that we are bringing back truly puts the essence of modern day yaari into words. We believe that the campaign is an opportunity to celebrate and realize the importance of friendships, old or young.”

The song release will be supported by a UGC campaign to share virtual hugs with each other that aims to clock over half a million hugs leading up to the Friendship Day on August 2nd, 2020