If you gotta go you gotta go, but just don’t do it in public. This is the message in a new campaign created by Lowe Lintas Ahmedabad for Indian plumbing brand Astral Pipes as part of a public service message seeking to address the problem of open defecation in rural areas.
The problem is not so much bad behavior as much as the fact that an estimated 560 million people don’t have regular access to indoor plumbing.
“Open defecation is an inherent hygiene problem of rural India, more so with women whose safety is always ignored and compromised,” according to the release. “So much so that it is a torture for rural women to defecate in the open – a problem which has been ignored by the male members since many generations – as a result of which women are teased, taunted and even raped while going out to relieve themselves.”
“We are very excited to begin the Social Mission journey with brand Astral,” said Elucidating on the campaign thought, Sagar Kapoor, ED, Lowe Lintas. “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.”
The film has been launched on the online as well as offline platform and will be pushed extensively across government-promoted outdoor initiatives as well.
Credits –
Team: Sandeep Engineer, Kairav Engineer, Yogen Parikh, Fenil Mevada
Account Management: Raj Gupta, Shantanu Sapre, Uttam Solanki, Jay SK
Creative: Arun Iyer, Sagar Kapoor, Abhishek Dey, Amit Hoiyani
Production House (Director): Absolute Films (Chandan Arora)
