Astral Pipes has rolled out a campaign that takes on the issue of 'open defecation'.
Conceptualised by Lowe Lintas, the film shows a group of men in the wee hours of the morning heading to the greens to defecate. They get into the process but are interrupted by a song playing in the background. Women from the village have followed them into the bushes and start singing about the activity of defecating in the open. The men urge them to leave, but the women carry on with the song. Through the song they go on to stress the importance of a toilet to be constructed at home as they face issues like eve teasing and rape when they step out of the house late at night to use a toilet. As the song comes to an end, one of them confesses that he's made a mistake and shall start constructing a toilet at home immediately.
Kairav Engineer, senior business development manager, Astral, said, “Astral Pipes is a leader in the CPVC pipes category. Our leadership is attributed to our single-minded focus on innovating to create efficient water management products. But, at one end where we are pioneering products that improve the quality of sanitation management in our country, there are still thousands of women who are denied basic sanitation, forcing them to resort to open defecation. With this campaign, we are not only hoping to spark a realisation about the evils of open defecation amongst those who are the most inflicted, but also support the Government’s Swachh Bharat initiative by creating awareness among masses and playing our part as responsible corporate citizen.”
Sagar Kapoor, ED, Lowe Lintas, said, “We are very excited to begin the social mission journey with brand Astral. The issue of open defecation has been taken up by many brands and authorities. And thankfully so. There’s so much to be done in the area. The irony is the rural menfolk take this issue as lightly as a nag by the women. While on the other hand open defecation has drastic outcomes like eve teasing, rape and even murders of women. Our communication piece therefore has taken a very different tone and pitch, to bring about not just awareness but also effect change.”
Along with the film, Astral Pipes will be extending the campaign across government-promoted outdoor initiatives.
CREDITS:
Client: Astral
Team: Sandeep Engineer, Kairav Engineer, Yogen Parikh, Fenil Mevada
Creative agency: Lowe Lintas Ahmedabad
Account management: Raj Gupta, Shantanu Sapre, Uttam Solanki, Jay SK
Creative: Arun Iyer, Sagar Kapoor, Abhishek Dey, Amit Hoiyani
Production house: Absolute Films
Director: Chandan Arora
