HUEMN x Pepsi celebrate beauty in diversity through limited edition can design

Society is an ever-evolving framework, a shell that expands, contracts, and rearranges itself as it moves through time. The generational nuances sit conspicuously on this framework, a crucial, if not primary, defining factor that guides societal trajectories. Palpable reflections of this ripple effect materialise, without fail, into popular media as trends, renewed thematics, strategic rebranding, and recurring catchphrases—iterating the role of media as a mirror of its times. The contemporary landscape attempts to be a terrain of fair representation, inclusivity, equality, and social and environmental responsibility. It is only inferential that these impactful voices take up due space in all spheres of life from informal conversations at home to the billboards at Times Square.

Award-winning fashion label HUEMN (pronounced: human), is an Indian brand that retails in India, Middle-East, China, Japan, Europe and America. Conceived in 2012, by Pranav Misra and Shyma Shetty, HUEMN's young and dynamic approach dwells on both relevance and responsibility. The label’s collaborations with creative powerhouses and industry giants foster much larger discourses about individuality, sustainability, inclusivity, and conscious buying—dialogues of much relevance today. Pepsi x HUEMN is one such collaboration that brings a new avatar of the Pepsi can to fruition—a limited-edition design that stems from the belief that society's beauty lies in its community's diversity. “It was a collaboration where both companies came together to integrate their IPs and celebrate inclusivity,” shares Misra, co-founder of HUEMN.

HUEMN and Pepsi are bound with a common chord: people. “The fact that a single product touches so many lives from such diverse backgrounds and is equally relevant is why the partnership was exciting for me,” says Misra. “Our commitment to dialogue around diversity is not just in the foundation of our company but also in its name,” he adds. HUEMN and Pepsi coming together was part of the team’s efforts to embed the brand deeper into the market and be more inclusive from a market standpoint. A sense of effortless sophistication and artistic abandon gives shape to a product design which is a play of contrasts and is a reflection of the choices an individual makes, navigating through our rapidly progressing communities empowered by inner strength.

Diversity, one of HUEMN’s most successful IPs featuring portraits, reflecting the diverse nature of our community, becomes HUEMN’s muse for the unique limited-edition can design. Pepsi, a culture curator beverage brand, is a versatile product which is remarkably inclusive—consumed equally across diverse financial backgrounds, ethnicities, and genders. These shared tenets made the collaborative endeavour a blend of exciting and organic, for the collaborators. “This is our second collaboration, and both companies respect and support each other's effort to communicate their principles. There is growth in it,” shares Misra.

The impactful creative expedition came with just one hurdle: restrictions laid out by standard product descriptions and placements. This restraint was dealt with through prototyping before arriving at the final product. The journey from inception to fruition is a belief that manifests itself in the design—a purpose shared by both companies of adding value to their communities with respect to society’s diverse fabric. When asked to describe the can design in three words, Misra said “Iconic. Diversity. Huemn.”

Pepsi, a brand that has carved its niche as a household name that is used interchangeably with cola, and HUEMN, a brand centred around people aim to induce an emotion of love through their design. “Being a homegrown premium fashion label, our customer base consists of tastemakers of today. There is a certain privilege to that,” Misra notes. “I wanted people from a wider section of society to be able to hold the brand in their hands and feel like they are also a part of it,” he adds, shedding light on the emotion behind the design. HUEMN has prioritised bringing smiles to their community and adding value to their lives as a company, their recent venture being a fitting iteration. With a philosophy that draws from multiple aesthetics and schools of thought, voices in our communities, inclinations in culture, and a capricious narrative, the label joins forces with Pepsi to continue to stir up thought and brew conversations.