Govt launches new campaign featuring cricketers urging Indians to make homemade masks
2 min read 19 Apr 2020, 09:28 PM ISTMade by advertising agency Ogilvy India, the minute and a half long film features country's most loved cricketers talking to the nation, starting with captain Virat Kohli and concluding with the legendary Sachin Tendulkar
PremiumIn a cricket crazy nation a message gets delivered best when it comes through country's most loved cricketers. In a bid to create awareness and urge Indians to make their own masks and practice handwashing as well as social distancing, government has bought together cricketers across age group and gender in an engaging anti-Coronavirus campaign under the title, ‘Mask Force’.
Made by advertising agency Ogilvy India, the minute and a half long film features country's most loved and celebrated cricketers talking to the nation, starting with captain Virat Kohli and concluding with the legendary Sachin Tendulkar. The lineup also includes women cricketing stars such as Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana and Mithali Raj urging people to make their own masks and download Aarogya Setu app.
Saying a small part each of the overall message, the cricketers make a point that while India has great cricketing teams, the time has come to form a formidable team of 1.3 billion Indians called ‘Mask Force’. A force that is very easy for every Indian to join and defeat the spreading Coronavirus. Simply by making our own masks at home and always ensuring that we do not step out of our home without wearing our masks. Each cricketer leads the way by pulling up their unique mask after inspiring the country to do the same.
BCCI was instrumental in getting together the cricketers required for the campaign. The digital campaign was first shared by BCCI on 18 April garnering over 5,000 retweets and over 20,000 likes. It got further momentum after Prime Minister Narendra Modi retweeted it. The campaign will be promoted across social media and digital platforms including influencer promotions as well using the hashtag #TeamMaskForce.
Ogilvy’s chief creative officer Worldwide and executive chairman, India, Piyush Pandey said, “For decades now, we at Ogilvy have stepped up to stand by our country’s needs through our CSR, be it for Polio Eradication, Literacy, fighting crimes against women and many more causes. So as soon as the Government of India approached us for our effectiveness in spreading messages to the masses, we wholeheartedly jumped in to do our bit. I believed that ‘Mask Force’ would be a likeable term that could be used to galvanise the whole country, hence decided to name this program ‘Mask Force’."
Ogilvy has also said that this is the first in the Mask Force series of exercises it is partnering the government on, in India’s war against covid-19. The agency is working on a series of films which will highlight the do's and dont's of the disease.
