Hum bahu nahi, bahumat hain, goes a popular promo. Corporates have noted the power of the small screen bahu and are tagging their social awareness campaigns on them this poll season. SANGEETA YADAV tells you more about this ‘vote for the right man’ trend on TV
Hum bahu nahi bahumat hain is the impactful tagline of Tata tea’s jaagore campaign which has roped in popular bahus like Toral Rasputra (Anandi of Balika Vadhu), Hina Khan (Akshara of Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai), Deepika Singh (Sandhya of Diya Aur Baati Hum), Shilpa Shirodhkar (Kamala tai of Ek Muthhi Aasman) and Rupal Tyagi (Gunjan of Sapne Suhane ladakpan Ke) to propel the ‘vote for the right person’ drive. Through this campaign, the bahus ask women voters to vote in droves but only after making an informed choice. They warn politicians to take note of the ‘power of 49’, pointing to the percentage of women voters in the General Election.
The trend is not limited to corporate campaigns only. Several channels through actors and shows (like Satyamev Jayate) are spreading social awareness. Jaagore, for instance, talks of freedom, safety and equality of women and urges viewers to talk about woman issues so as to compel political parties to make it their agenda. “We got more than 5. 8 lakh pings on our website. People from across the world are talking about the problems they face daily,” Vikram Grover, head, marketing, South Asia, Tata Global Beverages, says.
The kala teeka campaign, for example, shows women in a beauty parlour talking about carrying pepper spray as a safety measure. The beautician tells them to put a kala teeka instead, referring to the black dot on the index finger, the mark of a voter. Another campaign in collaboration with Satyamev Jayate shows Deepika urging viewers to support One-Stop Rape Crisis Centres to provide a rape survivor medical attention, police help and legal counsel under one roof. Then there’s Procter & Gamble’s Shiksha campaign, Coco Cola and NDTV’s Support My School drive to provide education to underprivileged children, Tanishq encouraging remarriage, Idea talking about empowering villagers — all pegging their products through meaningful social campaigns.