Mondelez Aims to Help Young Hondurans Escape Gangs With Coffee-Growing Project

Mondelez-owned coffee brand Kenco is launching a project to helping young Hondurans reject gangs and violence by becoming coffee-growing entrepreneurs. The year-long Coffee vs Gangs initiative (site yet to go live), conceived by Kenco's agency JWT London, will give 20 recruits in violence-ridden areas of Honduras the training and support to embark on new careers as trainee coffee farmers and therefore build a better life for themselves, away from gangs.

To raise awareness of this ethical initiative, the brand is launching a TV and cinema campaign centered around this inventive, gritty spot directed by by Johnny Hardstaff of RSA Films. The film combines live action, and animation centered around tattoos (the key indicator of gang allegiances in Central America) to tell the story of a young man on the brink of becoming involved in violent gang activity. It's set to authentic Honduran music from rapper Socio, via Eclectic and Greek Street Studios. To give it additional authenticity, most of the actors were street-cast from filming locations, including the main character, who is from Anonos, the town in which the commercial was filmed, and had no previous acting experience.

The ad breaks across U.K. TV and cinema next Monday, with additional digital content (including an online documentary following the scheme's recruits over the year) about the project to be found at the website.