Preservatives have no place in our foods, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have a useful purpose.

When we discovered the artificial preservatives used in food are also used in fireworks, we saw our opportunity to put them to better use.

July 4th in the US is synonymous with fireworks celebrations, typically funded locally by towns and cities. Some displays become so famous,they attract crowds from hours away and give the community sense of pride, connection and belonging.

We discovered Johnstone City hadn’t had a firework display in 10 years. Fortunately, Panera had removed all preservatives from its food… and there were plenty leftover to create a magical 4th of July celebration for the entire region.

Through this event, Facebook LIVE experience, video and social, we leveraged this societal impact to reveal hidden chemicals used in food and demonstrate how we are raising the bar for the industry.

The fireworks celebration took place in Johnston City, IL, but people could be part of the experience through Facebook Live, as well as via content shared across Instagram, YouTube, and native content on news media like Huffington Post. We also captured content ahead of the event and created social and native content distributed through Huffington Post, news media and on YouTube from 6/18/17 - 8/20/17

1.4 million users engaged with Facebook Live video within the first 9 hours; it saw a 23% video completion rate and 95% positive comments.

The experience had an enormous localized impact on central Illinois. Local news broadcasters, journalists, and radio hosts voluntarily and enthusiastically announced the Panera Fireworks Display, leading up to the event, despite zero PR support.

Johnston City’s population of 3,488 turned up, as well over 20,000 people from surrounding communities.