“If a detergent promises to clean any dirt with just one wash, why is laundry only a woman’s job?” asks Josy Paul, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer, BBDO India, explaining the thought process that went into the ‘Share the Load’ campaign that has gaining the ad agency applause from women and men alike. “The fact that women are doing laundry and men are not, is certainly a cultural stain,” says Ajai Jhala, Chief Executive Officer, BBDO India. “The idea therefore taps into this cultural stain as opposed to a fabric stain. Just a small act like helping with the laundry helps people understand what their partner is doing at home and therefore, they come to appreciate it,” states Jhala.
Paul and Jhala’s ‘Touch the Pickle’ campaign was aimed at the heart of menstrual taboos. For centuries, patriarchy has seen menstruating women as impure which means they’re not allowed to touch the pickle jar for it will go bad. The ad men admit that they knew they were on tough turf. “We didn’t really know about these things. It was the women, who brought it to our notice. They spoke about restrictions that were still imposed upon them. Being a social idea, it had to be handled sensitively. It was a small easy act— I mean, just touch the pickle and post your photograph. If it’s something small, everyone says ‘Hey! I can do this!’ They can own it. They can say, ‘It’s my idea!’ The beauty of small acts is — they have the power to go viral,” adds Paul.
Of rather less significance but equally interesting was their campaign, ‘Women Against Lazy Stubble’ where women were the voice of men shaving. However, they claim that this came out of an attempt to understand women better. “It was the first campaign where our founding principle to ‘Create Acts not Ads’ came into play. Why would men shave if their heroes on TV donned stubble? Our research found that 77 % women prefer clean-shaven men! From ‘I will break up with you’ to ‘If you don’t shave, I won’t shave my legs were’ the kind of responses we received. We had a giant integrated campaign,” says Paul.
Jhala adds that while BBDO refrains from being labelled a feminist agency, most of their work does revolve around gender, which is why the ‘Share the Load’ campaign resonated globally.
The duo is currently prepping for their masterclass at the upcoming annual media event, Media Mirror organised by the Social Communications Media Department (SCMSophia) at Sophia Polytechnic. Jhala says, “I think it’s fantastic! The country believes that young people are the change. Whenever we do our work, the way they respond and communicate on social media is amazing. It’s like a media plan. We go to sessions like these and talk to hundred people who talk to hundred others, which is fantastic!”
Paul advises media professionals in-the- making to shed their inhibitions with an interesting exercise: “I would suggest that they take a stool, go to Dadar station, stand on the stool and talk to nobody in particular. Do that for about 15-20 minutes and find out what embarrassment means. Once you get rid of that embarrassment then meet Ajai and me. That’s when you know you’ll last. If you want to create change, you have to live with embarrassment.”
Jhala shares his media mantra: “The people who do well are curious, inquisitive, eclectic and have an ability to connect dots because they’re observant. Being intrinsically motivated matters more than extrinsic motivation.” Both of them share their media wish-list for the year. “If you’ve seen the movie Blazing Saddles there’s a whole desert out there, but all the horses are standing in a queue to pass through because someone put up a toll gate. But they could easily just go from around. But they don’t. Similarly, the media has put up a toll gate which narrows our worldview, but there’s the world outside. The media should recognise it… they need to widen their perspective” says Paul.
Jhala emphasises the importance of objectivity saying, “We’re in a post-truth world because facts matter less than my subjective opinion, right? And therefore, we need a break from living in our own echo-chambers.”
Ajai Jhala and Josy Paul will be speaking at 2 p.m. as part of Media Mirror, the annual event organised by the Sophia Polytechnic’s Social Communications Media department (SCMSophia), that will take place on January 20. For more details see the group SCMSophia on Facebook.
