• by Steve Ellwanger , November 3, 2021

Premium tea Pure Leaf is taking to the streets with its “No Is Beautiful” brand statement in the form of poetry-adorned murals in three urban locales.

It’s the latest iteration of last year’s “No Is Beautiful” initiative, which promotes a world in which saying “no” to everyday stereotypes could be easier and more culturally acceptable for women.

Earlier this year, Pure Leaf began collaborating with author and poet Arielle Estoria, according to Katrina McDonald, senior marketing director for the Pepsi-Lipton partnership.

“We wanted a poet to bring to life No Is Beautiful,” McDonald tells Marketing Daily. “She wrote this poem, 'The Beautiful Art Of No.' When we read this as a team, the power of how she brought it to life just emotionally resonated with all of us.”

The last four lines of the poem read “Our No is powerful. Our No is beautiful. And just like our Yes, Our No, is ours to have.”

Murals in Los Angeles, Manhattan and Williamsburg, Brooklyn bearing the words to Estoria’s poem are surrounded by flowers to “bring this to life in a visually arresting way.”

One mural (see accompanying image) wraps around a corner in front of The William Vale, a luxury hotel located in Williamsburg.

The Pure Leaf logo is “subtly located on each mural. It’s not woven into the poetry or Arielle’s inspiring words,” says McDonald.

One of Pure Leaf’s core differentiators is that it contains no artificial ingredients—hence the fixation on the word “no.”

While earlier installments of the campaign centered on women—including this humorous video with comedian Amy Poehler—the brand is now extending its reach.

“Women in general find it harder to say no, particularly in the work environment,” says McDonald. “But it’s very much a message for men and women. You can’t normalize ‘no’ in society without having both men and women comfortable with setting those boundaries.”

Pure Leaf is committing $100,000 to start the “No Burnout, More Balance Program” in a partnership with the nonprofit Ladies Who Launch organization.

Nine female entrepreneurs will be the program’s initial recipients.