Crown Royal’s signature purple bag has been a symbol of luxury and great taste for decades. Now, the legendary distiller is turning that bag into an icon of generosity and gratitude, with some help from one of Nashville’s biggest stars.
In partnership with multi-platinum selling country artist Thomas Rhett and the Packages From Home organization, Crown Royal is giving back to the community through the Purple Bag Project, a commitment to deliver 1 million care packages to U.S. armed forces personnel and victims of natural disasters by the year 2020. This massive undertaking is the latest installment of Crown Royal’s "Live Generously and Life Will Treat You Royally" campaign, timed to coincide with the most generous time of year--the holiday gift-giving season.
The Purple Bag Project, as the name implies, is focused on delivering care packages in purple bags which evoke the design of Crown Royal’s own smaller, iconic bags. Volunteers have been stuffing these bags throughout November and will continue the effort throughout the season. Consumers who are over 21 years old are invited to participate in several ways, such as creating virtual bags online,
"I am so grateful for the sacrifices our service men and women make each day for our country, so it's an absolute honor to do what we can to help give back to them," Rhett said. "I'm so thrilled to team up with Crown Royal for The Purple Bag Project to help meet some of these essential needs.”
"People have always done more with our iconic purple bags,” said Sophie Kelly, Senior Vice President of North American Whisk(e)ys at Diageo. “The Crown Royal Purple Bag Project is all about helping facilitate the afterlife of the bag in a greater, more purposeful way. At Crown Royal, we are all about inspiring generosity and reminding people it's not what you have but what you give and how you give it.”
As part of the Crown Royal "Live Generously and Life Will Treat You Royally" platform, the brand is set to launch The Purple Bag Project during the most giving time of year. This holiday season will be crowned purple with a series of moments to help Crown Royal achieve their goal. Most notably, in partnership with the Country Music Association (CMA) and leading up to "The 52nd Annual CMA Awards," airing Wednesday, November 14 on the ABC Television Network, Crown Royal will host the ultimate volunteer takeover in downtown Nashville at the Bridgestone Arena Plaza on Tuesday, November 13, with the goal to pack iconic purple bags for active service members overseas leading into the holiday season.
To achieve its goal, Crown Royal will continue and enhance its long-standing partnership with Packages From Home, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to serving U.S. troops overseas and homeless or at-risk veterans by providing them with requested morale-boosting care packages. All care packages will include handwritten notes, food and personal care items. In addition, Crown Royal has taken an active approach serving local communities affected by natural disasters. Through monetary and purple bag donations, Crown Royal has facilitated support in California, Florida and Texas in light of recent events.
Those of legal drinking age can participate in The Crown Royal Purple Bag Project through a variety of ways such as packing a bag virtually, donating bags in-store, attending Crown Royal Generosity Hours at local bars and participating in packing events at professional football stadiums across the country. Thomas Rhett is also encouraging his fans to get involved in The Crown Royal Purple Bag Project through a random drawing sweepstakes with fundraising platform Omaze. The sweepstakes will launch later this month and offer those who enter the chance to win the opportunity to meet and pack bags with Thomas Rhett backstage at one of his upcoming concerts.