The acid truth about beauty

The campaign has helped set up a rehabilitation centre in New Delhi for acid attack survivors

An acid-scarred face giving beauty tips? How is that for an idea? Not one that would strike many as the best way to seek a ban on the over-the-counter sale of acid and as a corollary, an end to acid attacks in India. But it was the improbability of the idea and the fact that the campaign would end up bending and overturning traditional concepts about female beauty that had ad agency Ogilvy & Mather in its thrall. And, launched in the form of video blogs (vlogs) with Reshma Qureshi, a survivor of such an attack, the campaign has gone on to win hearts and awards at the Cannes Ad Fest this year.

Created for a non-governmental organisation Make Love Not Scars, 'Beauty Tips by Reshma' stands out for the use of an acid attack survivor as a model giving online beauty tutorials. She does this in three simple videos titled 'How to get perfect red lips' 'How to apply eyeliner' and 'How to get rid of dark spots naturally'.

The underlying message about ending the sale of acid is woven neatly into the script in all the three videos; in a manner that sends quite a chill down the viewers' spine. For example, in one of the videos, Qureshi says, "An eyeliner is available for Rs 100, but acid comes for only Rs 30. It is because of the easy availability of acid that everyday a girl in India becomes the victim of acid attacks. End its sale."

Harshad Rajadhyaksha, executive creative director, Ogilvy & Mather, Mumbai, who along with Kainaz Karmakar, also ECD at the agency, created the campaign, says, "After going over several ways to effectively bring alive this cause, the one that instinctively stood out was the device of online beauty tips. The process of sharpening the message in connection with the device followed next."

Karmakar says there were other contributors to the campaign including Harshik Suraiya and Geetanjali Jaiswal, part of their team at Ogilvy, Mumbai. "Their passion and dedication ensured that this was more than just a job for us. And of course Rajiv (Rao; Ogilvy India's national creative director) and Piyush (Pandey; Ogilvy's India & South Asia executive chairman &creative director), who put the whole might of the agency behind it," Karmakar says.

ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

• The campaign won Ogilvy & Mather, India, a Glass Lion and a Gold Lion (in film) at the Cannes Ad Fest 2016  
• The campaign aims to generate awareness about over-the-counter sale of acid, which is rampant despite a Supreme Court ban since 2013
• Reshma Qureshi, an acid attack survivor, was roped in as spokesperson for the cause to keep the communication direct and relevant. “We wanted to create a contrast by using a topic as superficial as makeup to address a hard-hitting issue,” the NGO said at the launch of the campaign
• 90% of the acid attack victims in India are women and the campaign sought to draw attention to the problem by focusing on the heart-rending difficulties of picking up life after the attack    
• The campaign was created as a series of three videos where Reshma shares some beauty tips. Each vlog ended with a plea to crowd source signatures on a petition addressed to the Prime Minister for enforcing the ban on open sale of acid

In fact, passion for the cause, seems to have been the driving force behind the campaign. In a conversation with Business Standard, Ogilvy's Rao says that Qureshi's courage to do the campaign was what touched him the most. "Having to endure an acid attack, go through its pain, agony and surgery, overcome it and then decide to be part of a campaign to try and end its cause, to me was the most touching aspect of the exercise. The response it received at Cannes was not surprising because most were touched by this," he says. O&M won a Glass Lion and a Gold Lion (in film) at Cannes for the campaign.

Ria Sharma, founder, Make Love Not Scars, which works on rehabilitation of acid attack survivors, says selecting the right girl was critical for the campaign. "Reshma was an apt choice because she likes looking good. I was careful that the girl who lent her face to this was comfortable doing it," she says.

Since its release in September 2015, the campaign has gone viral, having been picked up by global media such as New York Times, BBC and Time besides getting support from icons such as Amitabh Bachchan, Sachin Tendulkar and Ashton Kutcher.

Rajadhyaksha says that despite not being a fund-raising campaign (it was intended to create awareness and get viewers to sign a petition), people have come forward to voluntarily contribute to the cause. This helped set up an Acid Attack Rehabilitation Centre in Delhi, he says. Karmakar says that they are working on the next phase of the campaign, but that is about all she will reveal right now. Keep watching this space.

The third in a four-part series on award-winning work at the Cannes Ad Fest 2016 looks at O&M’s ‘Beauty Tips by Reshma’ that won a Glass and a Gold Lion