Free Press Journal, that doyen of independent press, along with Rediffusion, has launched a series of pictures that speak up for the poor and the dispossessed — an unlikely target audience for most brands!
Given the extraordinary times in the backdrop of the global pandemic, it is this segment of humanity that cannot afford a complete lockdown. They are among the 100 million people, roughly about 40% of India’s population, who are likely to remain poor for the foreseeable future. For them hygiene is a distant aspiration — something that is a default option in the architecture of necessities for the middle or upper classes.
“These are challenging times for all of us, across all sections of the society. As privileged people, most of us are consuming a lot of communication on how to keep busy at home, how to practice social distancing and how to practice hygiene. We were told there is space available in the Free Press Journal to communicate on the issue and if we wanted to add our voice to it, said Rahul Jauhari, Joint President and Chief Creative Officer at Rediffusion.
Referring to the idea behind the campaign, Jauhari added, “We felt we had the chance to speak on behalf of those who normally don’t reckon as target audience for most brands — the ones who struggle for a meal or a roof, let alone hygiene. And if we could remind people that there are many whose needs are far more basic and human than ours. This may be a drop in the ocean, but for us at the agency, this is from the heart.”
Following are the three messages from the series: ‘The pictures speak for themselves’; ‘Some need protection from hunger’; and ‘For some staying in is staying hungry’.
The third picture says ‘Kindness’ too can be contagious and urges people to make contributions to the cause.