Sarcasm puts litter bugs in the spotlight in India

Client: Swachh Bharat Mission

Agency: Grey India

Market: India

Campaign scope: The television ad forms part of a wider campaign for the Swachh Bharat Mission, an inititive announced in October by the Prime Minister of India to motivate Indian citizens to keep the country clean. Grey points out that there are many offenders who have no qualms about throwing garbage, littering on the streets or even urinating in public and the central idea of the campaign is to “shame” those who do so. This is the first phase of the campaign by Grey, which will be aired in 10 languages across all major networks in India.

Press release quote: Grey Group India’s national creative director and EVP, Malvika Mehra: “There is a saying in hindi 'jab ghee seedhi ungli say na niklay, tab ungli tedhi karni padti hai' (this suggests that one can be polite to only a certain extent, but if there are zero results, after a while, stern measures must be taken). Despite countless 'Keep India Clean' efforts/messages by the government, we still see a total lack of involvement from our brethren for the cause."

Comments: The sarcasm in the ad is captured brilliantly and after a number of attempts by the Indian goverment to clean up the country, perhaps this new approach will resonate with citizens.

CREDITS

Creative: Malvika Mehra, Dushyant Chopra, Arpan Bhattacharya, Saumya Aggarwal
Servicing: Samir Dattar, Sanghamitra Chakraborty, Titash Dutta
Planning: Dheeraj Sinha, Ajay Ravindran
Films: Samir Chadha, Sharad Shinde
Voice Over: Mr. Anupam Kher
Production House: Razorblade Films
Producer: Christopher Wagner
Director: Rahil Patel
DOP: Milind Shirke
Music: Niriksha Ajay Kakade