Sony Ericsson spreads the smiles for Filipino children

MANILA, Philippines - “I was once told that the average adult laughs 11 times a day, and the average four-year-old laughs more than 200 times a day!,” recalls UNICEF country representative Vanessa Tobin. The UNICEF official joined Sony Ericsson executives in a recent launch that would give more reasons to spread smiles around. Specifically, a campaign that asks anyone to smile and then spreads it to Filipino children who need it most.

Sony Ericsson, with the help of SM Supermalls and Digiprint, has embarked on a campaign to collect a million smile photos, raise a million pesos for UNICEF, and spread the smiles all over the Philippines. The campaign, quite naturally, is called Spread the Smiles.

UNICEF has noted that out of 10 Filipino children, only six will complete elementary school and only four will go on to finish high school. Sadly, figures also point to declining enrolment as the school years progress.

“Many Filipino young children miss out on the opportunity to develop to their full potential as many of them do not have access to positive early experiences that support brain growth and development,” said Tobin.

To alleviate this, Sony Ericsson’s Spread the Smiles calls for anyone to go to a Smile Booth at selected SM Malls, or visit Smiles Zones in Sony Ericsson Experience Shops. Their smile will be captured with a Sony Ericsson Cyber-shot phone with Smile Shutter. For every smile photo collected, the project will donate P1 to UNICEF.

Additionally, for a P20 donation, a donor will be entitled to a Digiprint photo printout, a spot on the Smile Wall, and a raffle ticket to win a Sony Ericsson C510 Cyber-shot phone.

By simply smiling, anyone can spread the smiles for Filipino children and raise a million from now until June 30.

To support Spread The Smiles, people can visit any of the nine SM Malls with Smile Booths where smiles are captured with Sony Ericsson phones. Smile Booths at SM Malls will be located in SM North EDSA (The Block) until May 27; SM Mall of Asia until May 27 and SM Megamall (Building A) until May 31. The Smile Booths move to SM Cebu, SM Davao and SM Iloilo from June 2 to June 7. Then it’s on to SM Pampanga, SM Baguio and SM Manila from June 9 to June 15.

You can also troop to Sony Ericsson Experience Shops across the country and say cheese at the shop’s Smile Zone. Sony Ericsson Experience Shops are located in Cyberzone, SM City North EDSA; Cyberzone, SM Megamall; SM Mall of Asia, Robinsons Galleria, Robinsons’ Place Ermita, Manila; Greenbelt 1, Makati; Digital Exchange, Glorietta 3; TriNoma Mall; Ayala Center, Cebu; Cyberzone, SM City Cebu; SM Pampanga, Angeles City; Gaisano Mall, Davao City; NCCC Mall, Davao City; Limketkai Mall, Cagayan de Oro City; SM Marikina; SM City Bacolod; and SM City Davao.

Sony Ericsson is also sharing these smiles with the world through a giant Smile Wall. This installation will rise at the SM North EDSA Sky Garden Bridgeway at the end of the campaign to showcase the smiles collected from all over the country.

“The donation and support to UNICEF’s early childhood education programs will help us give more children a better chance to stay in school and succeed in life,” added Tobin.

Smiling for a cause and getting a memorable photo to boot. Sony Ericsson is truly spreading the smiles.