‘Panadol Sahanaabhimani’ launches on International Day of Happiness

• Aims to inspire Sri Lankans to build a happier nation

From left: Smith Kline Beecham Category Manager – Wellness Yushika Abeysirigunawardena, Smith Kline Beecham Managing Director Sunil Mehra, W. V. Sugathapala, University of Kelaniya Department of Sociology Professor K. Karunathilake, Smith Kline Beecham Director Marketing Ravi De Coonghe, Smith Kline Beecham Brand Manager – Panadol Vinushi Wickremarathne

Panadol, the nation’s trusted pain reliever and flagship brand of Smith Kline Beecham Ltd, (GSK) launches ‘Panadol Sahanaabhimani’ to celebrate United Nations World Happiness Day. This unprecedented effort is aimed at inspiring Sri Lankans to build a happier nation and to mobilise the country towards this unified effort. In 2012, the United Nations officially declared 20 March as International Day of Happiness. Although Sri Lankans are known for their warm smiles and generosity, the 2013 UN sponsored report on World Happiness placed Sri Lanka at 137th position out of 156 countries reviewed. Panadol Sahanaabhimani seeks to reinforce positivity amongst Sri Lankans, helping them defeat pain, to be happy and spread happiness amongst others. Open to all Sri Lankans, Panadol Sahanaabhimani has three key activation pillars. The first outreach is rewarding those stories of extraordinary lives of ordinary citizens who have overcome pain, sought happiness and spread the same in their communities. The second activity is a public pledge to ‘Defeat pain and be Happy’ to encourage all to think positively, be happy and spread happiness despite pains. The final activity is a series of Happiness workshops across the country, to encourage participants to choose positive thinking in difficult times. Speaking at the launch, SmithKlineBeecham Ltd Managing Director Sunil Mehra said, “Our company’s vision is to help people ‘do more, feel better, live longer’. Panadol Sahanaabhimani was inspired by this vision. Panadol has an over 50 year long bond with Sri Lankans and has become an essential part of their lives. Today, we are embarking on an important mission to remind and inspire Sri Lankans to focus on what really matters in life – happiness. Through this unique campaign, we seek to discover extraordinary stories of ordinary people who have triumphed over pain to be happy and spread happiness amongst others. We invite all Sri Lankans to participate, by nominating inspiring individuals from all walks of life. With this we are confident of inspiring the nation to strengthen our effort to build a ‘Happy Sri Lanka’.” The three month search for inspiring stories of Happy Sri Lankans who have spread happiness to others will start in March. A panel of eminent judges, comprising of key opinion leaders from an array of social spheres in Sri Lanka, will select the 10 most inspiring stories from the nominations received. These 10 exemplary Sri Lankans will then be felicitated at the Panadol Sahanaabhimani Awards.