“Nominate an area that you think needs cleaning up, and a ‘Surf Cleanup Squad’ will arrive and help you clean it.” Thus reads the message on daagachhehain.surfexcel.in, pointing to several cities on the Indian map that have chosen to become a part of what seems to be a movement, one that aligns with the government’s vision for Swachch Bharat as well as the Hindustan Unilever detergent brand’s platform of ‘Daag achche hain’ (Dirt is good).
Driving people to the platform is a film which went online on Surf Excel’s YouTube channel on 22 May 2015. It features kids in a neighbourhood taking the initiative to clean up, giving up on elders. With a song and dance and unbridled enthusiasm, they go about the mission to ‘Keep India Clean’. Along the way, they also manage to convert a few elders into mending their dirtying ways. Along the way, they also manage to dirty their clothes. The brand’s message rings loud and clear: ‘Agar desh ki safai main daag lagte hain, toh daag achche hain’ (If one gets dirty while cleaning the nation, then dirt is good).
The video, conceptualised by Jack In The Box Worldwide, invites users to click through (to the microsite) to nominate their locality, for the brand’s clean up squad to address.
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