Yesterday marked the annual International Day of Happiness, a time for reflecting on the happy moments in our lives, and working towards maintaining a positive outlook. We at The Practice like to think of ourselves as a jolly bunch, but we were more than inspired by what we saw emerge from international organizations and social media alike.

Twitter and Facebook were certainly put to good use for spreading happy thoughts and messages. The hash tag, #internationaldayofhappiness was trending throughout the day, and was also incidentally the longest hash tag to date. While over 3.5 million people last year jumped on the #HappyDay trend across social media platforms, this year, millions more across the globe shared their “Happiness” snaps, videos and status updates. Amongst digital users, one of our favourites was Mashable’s Vine video, entitled: “It’s #HappyDay! Go outside or spend some time creating. Wherever you go, #make_happy in your trail.” The animated video put a smile on our faces, reminding to celebrate the start of Spring, and to make the most of the day by getting creative- something which of course we love to do!

And making the most of the day is something that Coca-Cola carefully planned as part of their wider “Open Happiness” campaign. The brand’s campaign is of course renowned for both its digital and offline presence, and celebrated worldwide for producing TV, print, and in-store advertising centered around this theme. To mark International Happiness Day, the company released their free downloadable Happiness Remix, a global soundtrack of 17 songs by independent artists worldwide. The accompanying video also has a great “feel-good” vibe, featuring a selection of happy moments from the artists themselves, as well as Coca-Cola adverts from across the 200 markets worldwide which the campaign has launched in. Describing its premise, Head of Global Music Marketing for Coca-Cola, Joe Belliotti stated: “The Coca-Cola brand mission is to refresh the world and inspire moments of happiness,” which if you have a look at the video, couldn’t be truer.

And just when we thought things couldn’t get any cheerier, it was announced that none other than Pharrell, was named the face of International Happiness Day. In a collaboration with the UN Foundation, the voice of “Happy” implored people worldwide to submit their best “happiness” video footage: singing, dancing, laughing, or just generally doing something that promoted positivity. And in a heart-warming personal message on one video, Pharrell said he hoped the campaign would encourage people to remember and celebrate the most important thing in life- love. Adding to this, the UN is encouraging viewers and participants alike to donate to the Central Emergency Response Fund which provides aid to those affected worldwide by war and natural disasters. In response to the movement, UN Secretary-General Ban Kim-moon argued that fighting for happiness meant “working to end conflict, poverty and other unfortunate conditions in which so many of our fellow human beings live.” We certainly think this partnership will be an effective way to get people involved and inspired to take action.

Did you celebrate International Happiness Day? And do you think social media has become the perfect medium for sharing positivity? We’d love to hear your opinions, so please tweet to us @PracticeDigital and share your thoughts on our Facebook page.