Pen drop violence

It’s often said that ad men always want to have a good time, sometimes at the client’s expense. But this incident was a breath of fresh air.

At Goafest 2016 held earlier this month, the Advertising Agencies Association of India and The Advertising Club introduced the Young Abby awards where the young talent in the profession was invited to create advertising that would help in reducing gender violence. The winners of the Gold Abby in that category were the writer-artist duo from JWT’s Gurgaon office, Bodhisatwa Dasgupta and Nitesh Sah. Along with their Gold Abby, the organisers also gave the duo a fully paid tour to the Cannes Advertising Festival which is considered the Oscars of the ad business.

Most ad men, particularly the younger set, would kill to go to Cannes. But this set of youngsters had other plans.

Some days after the event, the chairman of the organising committee, Goafest 2016, Nakul Chopra, got an e-mail from one of the winners. According to those in the know, the mail floored Chopra because of its magnanimity.

In a rare gesture, the winners told the organisers of Goafest that they would rather give away the money set aside for their Cannes visit to an NGO that’s helping victims of gender violence. Chopra says “Such thoughtful steps by the young showcase their greatness and acts as a great motivation for all around. It is uplifting and humbling to see the two super achievers from the advertising fraternity take such an inspiring stance.”

Ramesh Narayan - Chairman of the Awards Governing Council of Goafest 2016 adds, “The advertising fraternity prides in its power and potential to be agents of change in society. These two young guns Bodhi and Nitesh and their highly honorable initiative is an inspiration for all of us to walk the talk.”

A closer look at the ads created by the duo unveils that they were working towards the plan all along the way.

For example, the headline in the ad which had only written copy read: “Can this ad stop gender violence in India? Well, the organisers seem to think so.”

The ad copy proceeds to say that “advertising can do many wonderful things. It can create brands, start conversations, build useful things that the world needs.... But stop gender violence?”

It ends with two or three suggestions for the organisers. One suggestion spoke about initiating a project where the best of the art community and the cream of the writing club can collaborate with an organisation that’s trying to solve the problem of gender violence and work towards solving the issue rather than just write ads.

The other idea is what Dasgupta and Sah stuck to. The copy read: “A trip to coveted Cannes would be around ₹2 lakh per person. The amount could have been donated to the rehabilitation program for victims of gender abuse. It is believed that the organisers of Goafest had actually set aside Rs 8 lakh as the prize money, though no one went on record to confirm this.

The campaign ends with the duo stating that “if this campaign wins that’s exactly what the writer and art director will do. It is not much but it’s better than 439 words (length of the ad) that would have served no purpose to the cause at all.” We at cat.a.lyst have only one word for the duo. Respect.