Uplifting experience at launch of new drink

(From left) Siti Nordiana, Harith, Santharuban and Zizan at the launch of the Fibre-It Up with Calpis Fibre Range! An Uplifting Campaign.

THE crowd cheered in excitement as three local celebrities defied gravity by floating five feet into the air with the help of helium balloons during the launch of the Calpis Fibre.

Harith Iskander, Zizan Razak and Siti Nordiana, who are Calpis ambassadors, took turns to be lifted by the balloons, an act to represent how light and healthy they feel by drinking Calpis Fibre.

Calpis, which is Japan’s first cultured milk drink, successfully pulled off the stunt during its campaign titled “Fibre-It Up with Calpis Fibre Range! An Uplifting Campaign That Encourages a Healthier Lifestyle”.

Witnessed by fans and shoppers at a mall in Petaling Jaya, Calpis hoped to spread the message of a healthy lifestyle through maintaining a healthy digestive system.

“We are all about helping people understand the importance of multiplying the goodness within our digestive tract, which will in turn lead to a healthier life,” said Etika Sdn Bhd marketing vice-president Santharuban T. Sundaram.

Etika is one of Malaysia’s leading drink distributors and a wholly owned subsidiary of Asahi Group Holdings Ltd.

Santharuban added that the fun-filled event was the company’s initiative to engage customers in a fun and exciting way for a long-lasting impact.

During the event, those present were also given a chance to feel light and free by being lifted by balloons and trying out the reverse bungee activity.

The event was broadcasted live on Calpis’ Facebook page and those who tuned in were given a chance to guess how many balloons it took to lift each celebrity.

Twenty big balloons were attached to all three of them along with 83 small ones for Harith, 70 for Zizan and 61 for Siti.

By the end of the live streaming, 150 indviduals were rewarded with a total of RM15,000 cash prizes.

“Calpis has definitely helped me feel lighter and healthier, and now without an air ticket, I think I can fly to Terengganu,” joked Zizan.

Meanwhile, Harith, who took a little longer to be lifted, said he would rather soar slowly rather then risk flying off.

“I had a banana leaf meal, a croissant and two lattes to prepare for this challenge because I do not want to fly away,” said Harith.

Siti Nordiana, also known as Nana, squealed as she was first lifted into the air.

“It was both exciting and scary but when I was up there, I felt so light and free, which made me want to soar even higher,” she said.

Calpis also launched a one-month social media contest on its Facebook and Instagram platforms where participants had to post a photo to show how light they felt after consuming the drink.

Twenty most creative winners were selected from the contest.