Tata Tea asks women get the ‘black dot’, exercise ‘Power of 49’

Beverage brand Tata Tea has launched the second phase in its ‘Power of 49’ campaign that targets women voters. The brand has launched an ad film conceptualised by Lowe Lintas that goes on air on 12 February. 

The film titled ‘kaala teeka’ aims to educate women from the upper strata about the power of voting and selecting the right candidates.

The film is set in an upmarket salon with women customers. One of the women shows a pepper spray she has bought to the others. The attendant doing her manicure asks, “What it is?”The client explains that if someone behaves funny with her, all one has to do is to spray it into his eyes. She goes on to tell the attendant that she too must get one for herself. The attendant replies that she does not need it as she applies ‘kaala teeka’(black dot). The other women in the salon associate ‘kaala teeka’ with superstition and feel sorry for the attendant. They cite lack of education being the reason behind the superstitious belief. To which, the attendant replies that even educated women should apply ‘kaala teeka’. It is revealed that the ‘kala teeka’ she’s referring to is the black dot of ink that marks her vote. She explains, “Vote kisi aise neta ko do jo hamare safety ke liye kuch karein.” (Vote for a leader who will do something about our safety). She then asks a colleague to serve tea to everyone. The film ends with the voice over saying that women account for 49 per cent of the electoral base and should start voting on the issues that they face.

Sanjiv Sarin, regional president - South Asia, Tata Global Beverages, said, “We are delighted to see Power of 49 grow from a simple thought to a larger initiative with support coming in from the Tata group. Over the years, Jaago Re has become a credible platform for catalysing social change.”

“This time, the campaign seeks to address the underlying reason for women not getting their due from the establishment – the fact that they do not engage sufficiently with the electoral process and do not cast their votes based on an understanding of the stance of candidates on women’s issues. We believe that by inspiring 100 million women to vote based on ‘Women’s issues’ we will be able to catalyse change in this space thus benefitting women and also the country,” he added.

Ameer Jaleel, national creative director, Lowe Lintas, said, “Given the times we live in today, it is absolutely necessary for us to empower women. It is imperative that the world be told that women must not be treated the way they are, that they are a force to reckon with; especially politicians and governance who can do so much more to better the way things are for women in India, but aren't doing much.”

Credits

Client: Tata Tea

Creative agency: Lowe Lintas and Partners

National creative director: Amer Jaleel

Executive director: GV Krishnan

Creative team: Sagar Kapoor, Garima Khandelwal, Sonal Mishra, Ameya Gokhale

Account planning: Vishal Nicholas, Russell John

Account management: Ayyappan Raj, Kunal Madhavdas, Rumi Ambastha, Kshitij Mehra

Production house: Offroad Films

Director (film): Gauri Shinde