Marketing, Development, and Public Relations - Research Paper Example

The Pepsi campaign gets the consumers engaged, offering them a venue to air their opinions and thus, propelling a positive change. The Pepsi Refresh Project challenges non-profits, businesses, and individuals to identify things in the community that requires change (Berch, Montoya, and Sawayda, 2011). The Pepsi campaign focused on creating deeper relationships with its consumers by engaging with them through digital technology and its interconnectedness. Thus, the campaign has given the consumers a chance to create and vote for ideas that assist in making the planet a better place (Robinson, 2011).

Several nonprofit organizations have called for the support of the Gulf Coast. The organizations state how they will use the grant they get from Pepsi Refresh Project. The grant is used for a number of projects that lead to a sustainable community. For instance, the Animal Rescue Fund (ARF) of Mississippi has an animal rescue project. The nonprofit organization plans to use the $50,000 grant to offer shelter to pets within the region of Gulf Coast (the pets to be sheltered are ones that can no longer be cared for by the owners). The shelter will take care of pets until they find a new adoptive family or until the owner is able to take care of the animal (Purchase, 2011). From this project, it is evident that participating in the Pepsi Refresh Project competition has many advantages. In this case, the nonprofit organization (Animal Rescue Fund [ARF]) of Mississippi will take care of animals that have been neglected or their owners cannot take care of them, and the pets will get shelter and the needed care. The project will also assist the families in taking care of pets they were unable to take care of, and the pets will get a new adoptive family or it can be returned to the owner if he/she is able to take care of the pet. Thus, in the case of ARF of Mississippi, the project will have many advantages for both the community and the pets.

Although the Pepsi Refresh Project was geared towards helping the community become sustainable and the world a better place, the project has posed risks to the communities benefiting from the same project. Instead of assisting the community, it is raising concerns that require an urgent response. Angel’s Animal Rescue Society is one of the beneficiaries of the Pepsi Refresh Project. The objectives of the group were to assist in rehabilitating injured and abused dogs. At the initial stages, support from the community was very strong; and this can be ascertained by the number of votes they received from the community. However, the increase in the number of dogs cared for by the Judanna Dawn-Caro’s Sunshine Valley estate is proving to be difficult for the community (O’Connor, 2011).

The residents in the estate are upset by the noise made by the dogs. Some residents who are as far as a quarter miles away can hear the noise. Other nearby residents such as Marguerite Lund and Norma Cannon have expressed similar concerns to the Rescue Society. The rescue center can house up to 40 dogs at a time. The situation gets worse when bears come around. Other concerns raised by the community are the vast land, which is not underused. The land lacks adequate fencing and when dogs escape, they pose a great risk to the neighbors. Some neighbors claim to have seen dog trails coming from the steep hillside of the rescue center. Though the dog rescue center is doing a noble job for the community, the noise from the dogs has made it difficult for the neighbors to live in harmony. The Pepsi Research Project was aimed at making the community and the world a sustainable place. However, some of the projects it has given grants, for instance, Angel’s Animal Rescue Society, have proved not to be sustainable since the community cannot live in peace. The rescue center can no longer sustain the noise made by the dogs.