Breast cancer awareness is a sensitive topic in India, but Tata Trusts took a clever approach in their campaign to spread awareness on the issue. And the message has not been lost on women.
They connected the dots between cooking and self-care, comparing lumps in food to potential lumps in their breasts.
The ad encourages women not to overlook the lumps in breasts and to examine themselves with the same careful attention they give to cooking. After all, prevention is better than cure.
The brand’s objective is to encourage testing so that the cancer-causing cells are caught early on.
Tata Trusts roped in Sanjeev Kapoor — a trusted name in food for Indian mothers and wives.
Stroke of a genius
In a social experiment, the ad showcases the chef ignoring the gaanth (lumps) in dishes like white sauce pasta and aate ka halwa. That serves as a surprise metaphor.
The film tapped into women’s sentiments toward cooking and food. Lumps in any dish are a big no for them. And, the brand intends to create a similar unsettling approach for lumps in breasts as well.
“By building our narrative around women and their love for cooking, we hope to nudge a deep behaviour change,” said Deepshikha Surendran, head of brand and marketing communications, Tata Trusts.
Titled ‘Gaanth pe dhyan’ (pay attention to lumps), the commercial has garnered thousands of views in four days. And viewers find the video “very informative”.
Some comments read: “Awareness is the key to early detection”, “great video”, “self-care is an essential part of taking care of our loved ones”, “beautiful way, ️everyone take care of yourselves”, “very informative video. We hope this information will unknot the ignorance”.
The ad was conceptualised by Basta Films, which winded up the video not with statistics but a soft Hindi jingle that translates to “Life tells you to untangle the knots. Live life and stay happy.”
“The intent of this film is to address the ignorance among women, and the analogy of ‘lumps in food’ hits the bull’s eye,” said producer Mahima Sharma, a breast cancer survivor.
Creative products are key
A lot has been done to create awareness around breast cancer. But some initiatives stand out for their not-so-conventional approach.
For instance, Philips’s ad campaign The Silent Couple reminded husbands to do more chores so that wives could practise cancer self-examination and focus on themselves.
Well, targeting men for breast cancer awareness is crucial because they can influence and support the women in their lives to seek regular screenings. Also, in the majority of Indian households, women are not very proactive and aren’t able to speak their hearts out or draw boundaries. After all, talking about feminine health is still taboo.
While talking about breast cancer in videos has been has been tried by brands like SBI Life Insurance, Zivame, and FujiFilm India, only a few have donned the creative hat.
We have Lux, which introduced soap with a lump in 2020 to remind women to regularly self-examine and remove the stigma and shame around this health issue. This campaign was designed by Unilever. Lux intended to grab women’s attention at a time when they were free from the chaos of house and work.
And how can we forget Marks and Spencer India’s 2021 campaign ‘Straps That Remind?’ The brand rolled out transparent straps with reminders to get breast cancer testing. The black text was written with special ink that diminished within seconds after coming in contact with the body, making it ready to wear.
It worked as a personal reminder from the perfect medium.
Though Tata Trusts has reverted to traditional methods of raising awareness, it has significantly enhanced them through precise communication.
Brand: Tata Trusts
Agency: In-house
Production House: Basata Films
Producer: Mahima Sharma
(Edited by Humra Laeeq)