Just as the great Indian monsoon begins its journey from Kerala, the festive season on which marketers pin most of their hopes also starts from God’s own country. Onam, this year, however has been muted and not seen the usual high-decibel brand campaigns from durable firms. Discounts, incentives, soft launches, yes. Instead, Rakshabandhan seems to be where a lot of the ad and media spends seem to be going. Of course there are exceptions.

Facebook’s roaring Onam

Social media giant Facebook celebrated Onam with a short film that spotlights Pulikkali artistes. The film is centred around the popular folk art in which performers painted like tigers dance in the streets of Kerala to entertain people during Onam. Last year the performers went virtual to reach their audience. Facebook’s film — part of its More Together series — highlights through this true story of the folk artistes how culture has gone virtual and communities are coming together on Facebook in unique ways. The film was conceived by Dentsu Mcgarrybowen and executed by director Atul Kattukaran. Facebook also rolled out AR filters to take Pulikkali to users who could don the mask and roar like tigers.

Cadbury’s chocolatey thread

Chocolate brand Cadbury Celebrations has done a very special campaign for Rakshabandhan, highlighting the bond between a physically disabled boy, Shubham, and his sister. Shubham yearns to experience the feeling of a rakhi tied to his wrist and has his wish granted with a low cost sensor enabled prosthetic hand. The #MyFirstRakhi campaign has been conceived by Ogilvy India. In addition, Cadbury Celebrations has partnered with Social Hardware, an organisation working towards providing assistive devices to underserved communities. The brand has pledged low cost sensor based hands to children in need.

Amazon delivers the love

Another Rakshabandhan film that caught the eye was Amazon.in’s digital campaign which shows two siblings meeting on the occasion — the sister preparing a sweet for her brother and the brother gobbling it up. But there’s a twist to this. The film made in-house delivers the message that you might deliver a gift but some gifts don’t come in a box. It is you who can #DeliverTheLove.