“Shaping Peace Together” is the theme of this year’s International Day of Peace. Observed annually around the world on 21 September, the day is devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace through observing 24 hours of non-violence and cease-fire.
An annual moment of calm
In Vietnam, Pizza 4P’s found a way to translate the values the company was founded on — compassion, kindness and hope — into a campaign that demonstrates its founders’ mission to ‘Make the World Smile for Peace, One Pizza at a Time'.
To mark International Day of Peace, Pizza 4P’s commissioned Ki Saigon, a leading boutique creative agency, to bring this mission to life. On September 21st, Pizza 4P’s kicks off a week-long celebration of love and compassion with a series of events where the message of peace will be shared through food creations and art installations.
Customers, partners, family and friends are all invited to come together at the chain’s Hai Ba Trung location to explore Pizza 4P’s universe of peace and togetherness, in both the physical and emotional senses.
All proceeds from the sale of the Peace Pizzas will go to the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund.
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Pizza 4P’s believes that peace is the one cosmic ingredient that makes everything better. Armed with this brief, Ki Saigon came up with a concept where the signature cooking ingredients of the nations with a history of conflict come together harmoniously in one recipe.
The process of experimentation, supervised by chefs Shotaro Hirukawa and Natsumi Kobayashi, took many months and resulted in three individual Peace Pizzas combining the ingredients from India and Pakistan on one, Israel and Palestine on another, and lastly, the China and USA Peace Pizza.
The concept of Pizza 4P’s Peace Week Event is introduced through a child-like animated story, in which two butterflies on their individual quests to find a key ingredient to happiness eventually find it through finding each other, demonstrating how wonderful the world would be if we all came together.
3 Questions with Yosuke Masuko, Pizza 4P’s founder and CEO
What is the idea behind the Peace Week?
The idea was inspired by our mission to ‘Make the World Smile for Peace’. Pizza 4P’s aims to inspire and promote inner peace and to help people achieve life-long happiness, thus contributing to building a world full of joy. World Peace Day has a very special meaning to us. On this day, we wanted to bring that vision to life in an experiential way for our customers.
In fact, the journey started many months ago. Pizza 4P’s met with Ki Saigon with the intention to create a short film about our vision, as a gift to our guests, friends, loved ones, colleagues and partners.
In that meeting, numerous discussions took place around such topics as peace and happiness, both within us and throughout the world. As these discussions grew deeper and deeper, a very tight bond was established between the founders of Ki Saigon and Pizza 4P’s.
Out of these mutual feelings, a bigger goal was visualized. As a result, instead of simply producing a film or a campaign, we were left with something much more meaningful — a place for our collective souls to find resonance within the group and with those around us.
What are some of the unique experiences guests can look forward to on September 21 at Pizza 4P’s Hai Ba Trung?
Everyone coming to our flagship Hai Ba Trung location between September 21 and 27 will have the chance to experience the special Peace Day menu including the three ‘Peace Pizzas’: China and USA, India and Pakistan, Israel and Palestine. These countries have different flavors and if they can live on a pizza in harmony, so can we.
In addition, we will be showcasing a series of original artworks and installations commissioned for the event. Starting with a series of flags decorating the entire space, each containing a mix of simple shapes derived from that of a pizza, a triangle and a circle, to serve as symbols of peace and togetherness. Guests will also see the Murals for Peace, a series of stencil artworks created with the actual spices found in each of the Peace Pizzas, as well as discovering our Garden of Peace.
This garden sits inside a Pizza 4P’s pizza box. Its flowers are handmade and the colors are a combination of the flags of the countries in conflict. Over 250 boxes and intricate flowers will be on display for the duration of the Peace Week.
Copies of our ‘Book of Peace’, a three-dimensional pop-up book featuring these flowers will be available for purchase, with all proceeds going to the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund, same as the proceeds from the sale of the Peace Pizzas.
Among all the flavors you are launching, which one is your personal favorite and why?
In the spirit of this event, it is impossible to select just one pizza as our favorite. In fact, we would love to sit down and dine with you, and have a deeper discussion about what we feel. We can discuss how this experience affects our sense of peace and happiness, both in ourselves and in the world around us. If we can do this, we will take a big step towards this!
3 Questions with Ki Saigon
You will be launching the Peace Box and the Peace Pizza on the day of the event. What is their symbolism and what do they represent?
It’s a garden of peace in a pizza box. It represents the hope for peace and tranquility. Because where flowers blossom, so does hope. Our murals for peace also are meant to give the same feeling. All the colors of the Peace Box are made combining the colors of flags of the countries. Much like the concept to make the Peace Pizzas. The flowers in the pizza box and the Peace Pizza box are uniquely designed and handcrafted.
Who have you partnered with for the project and why did you choose these craftsmen and women?
Our core creative team at Ki Saigon team came up with the concept of combining the flavors of countries in conflict on a pizza, which was brought to life by the 4P’s chefs Shotaro Hirukawa and Natsumi Kobayashi. We then created the entire design language, Peace Box concept, Murals for Peace and animated stories.
Zac Buehner, an artist, brought to life the crafting of the actual flowers in the Peace Box and Murals for Peace. To make the murals, he worked for four days and much of the night straight. And now needs a new spine!
Wing Chan is our official partner photographer for this campaign who really took the project forward by bringing his passion and eye to capture it beautifully. VAIB studio gave us their full support to produce the key pieces. They were just awesome.
Justin Ngiam was the videographer and worked with multiple cameras set up to capture the making of. The Callimotion team made a wonderful piece of animation that the Ki Saigon team illustrated, scored and wrote. A whole family of handwork craftsmen and craftswomen have worked to create over 250 special edition boxes and 500 books.
Among all the flavors Pizza 4P’s is launching, which one is your personal favorite and why?
Within our team we couldn’t decide on the one. Everyone has their favorites. So hard to say which one!