Children’s dreams are pure, unselfish and creative. To nurture such aspirations, Astra called on the children of Sri Lanka to paint their dreams on Astra tubs through their ‘Paint your Tub’ initiative, earlier this year. Following an overwhelming response Astra selected 50 winners at the campaign finale held in Colombo recently. Life Online was at the event which was attended by renowned thought leaders of the industry who joined in for a panel discussion on the ‘Importance of preserving children’s unspoilt aspirations and dreams’. 

To facilitate this initiative, Astra created an empty canvas on their product tub, giving children the opportunity to paint the tub with their dreams for a better world.

“Children dream differently and this was unmistakably evident by the paintings we received during the past three months. They dream about the greater good for society. We at Astra believe that to ensure a great future for the country and the world, we need to encourage children and their parents to understand the importance of preserving those pure intentions and the creativity behind the dreams,” Shamara Silva, Category Head – Core Foods, Unilever Sri Lanka stated.

Being a household brand, Astra has been helping to nurture great kids for 50 years; celebrating their golden jubilee, Astra identified the importance of creating a platform to curate their aspirations and pure thoughts, to create a better world for their future.
In the span of three months, Unilever received 10,000 entries through post and 7,000 entries which were collected through Astra Dream Studios from island-wide locations. The entrants were called to paint their dreams on the Astra Tub, which was then submitted along with a letter from the child, explaining what their dreams are about and how they would achieve them. 

The 50 winners were selected under the guidance of the Provincial Revenue Department. While the most inspiring dream, was selected by an expert panel of lecturers from the Faculty of Arts at the University of Colombo.

The 50 finalists were awarded cash prizes of Rs. 200,000 each, while the winner, Kawya Prabodhani, received Rs. 300,000. The cash prizes were awarded through Unilever Sri Lanka’s financial partner, Sampath Bank, in the form of savings accounts. Moreover the winning dream art will be printed and sold as a limited edition tub in the coming months.
Astra intends to be the guiding force that leads the next generations of kids, who aspire to live up to their true potential as great kids and who will truly contribute towards making the world a better place.