Whisper’s #KeepGirlsInSchool
Thoughts on the campaign from Whisper and UNESCO to raise awareness and educate girls on menstrual hygiene management
Can a celebrity/influencer endorse multiple causes or support nonprofits?
Well if a celebrity can endorse multiple brands then why can’t he/she endorse multiple causes. I can shell out another 200 words claiming how it dilutes the brand or cause but that would be a waste of your and my time.
My memory reminds me that I have already done a post that shares my gyaan on how NGOs will have to look for creators along with good-looking celebrities.
Bollywood actress Bhumi Pednekar who made her acting debut with Dum Laga Ke Haisha (2015) also calls herself a dreamer, leader, and climate warrior. She has joined hands with Sony and BBC Earth to recognizes, reward, and inspires the young minds of India to think about a better, sustainable future.
After virtually celebrating his valentine’s day with the kids of Project Pankh in Rishikesh she has now shared the latest video from Whisper India. The video brings back Whisper’s Keep the Girl in School campaign. The actress makes it clear on Instagram that it is an endorsement.
Whisper’s #KeepGirlsInSchool
This year to raise awareness and educate girls on menstrual hygiene management under its flagship program #KeepGirlsInSchool campaign, Whisper has tied up with UNESCO.
The new film focuses on how girls drop out due to lack of period education and protection.
This year’s film is an extension (kind of) of last year’s film that also circled around a poetic form of storytelling. Last year the messaging was more subtle playing with the void.
Though, the 2019 effort of getting girls and their mothers to speak about the issues regarding periods and their challenges along with Whisper was hard-hitting, relevant, and vocal about the cause. Maybe 2019 was the year of social experiment videos.
However, this year Whisper mentions clearly how it is going to donate the pads - “The brand will donate 1 pack of pads to schoolgirls for every Whisper Ultra purchased from 10th Feb 2021 to 15th March 2021.”
Even though the detail is embedded at the end of the video and you will need to have binocular eyes to find it but the brand says it. I guess this is the first time the brand has stated it so clearly. Looks like all that chatter around “Brand Purpose and Authenticity” is showing some effect.
In addition to the video the brand has a landing page (thanks to the video description that guided me to the page, more the reason why video title and description are important from a search and conversion.)
Period of Pride campaign with Network18
The landing page is a static page highlighting the brand initiatives. However one of the initiatives is the Period of Pride petition campaign. Along with Network18, Whisper is running the campaign to include ‘Period Education’ as a part of the school curriculum.
Here is a video from the ground - two girls on a mission to change the lives of women from Kherla, Mewat through their project SPOT ON & OFF, by educating them about menstrual hygiene, dismantling the myths and taboos so that each woman and girl can be unstoppable and live their lives to true potential.
Mobile Shala program with Pratham
Along with the repository of the videos associated with The Period of Pride campaign the landing page also talks about the Mobile Shala program. With the ongoing pandemic and prolonged closure of schools; Whisper decided to keep the education going via Mobile Shala - a phone-based learning platform wherein girls from classes 6 to 10 can continue their learning on a variety of school subjects and on menstrual hygiene in a language of their choosing for free.
Launched last year the brand collaborated with Pratham, an NGO that focuses on education for children, to drive this program. The YouTube videos embedded on the landing page link to Pratam’s YouTube channel - Open School Hindi.
Here is a fun video in Hindi showing how to read a map. Only if Geography was so much fun in our school too.
These videos are part of Pratham’s larger initiative of creating videos, games, and learning applications in 11 regional languages for learners across the age group of 3-18+.
Supported by Google.org the program is supporting low-tech resources such as SMS, Radio, TV, and Whatsapp, to ensure that content reaches the children and the learning does not halt.
By the way Whisper’s landing page for Mobile Shala program is not even mobile optimised.
Awareness programs by Nonprofits
Earlier in the week, I shared my thoughts on how to plan an effective awareness campaign. While I understand that Whisper is a profit-making company but it is also an awareness campaign.
Indian’s have mastered the art of creating heartwarming videos. But why is the campaign video missing from the landing page when it is the central idea and being shared by the brand everywhere?
Even UNESCO has published the press release of the tie-up. However, I have failed to locate the impact or work UNESCO would be doing for this initiative.
Expectantly, in the coming days, one would witness some more engagements and awareness ideas focused on social media. It is a month-long campaign so Whisper would be hoping to engage more with Bhumi and other on-ground players.
Wonder why Whisper hasn’t had a strong tie-up with an Indian NGO when it is determined to not let periods get in the way of 23 million dreams.
On another note when will men or fathers be part of the menstruation conversation. After all our’s is still a male-controlled society and family. Nonetheless, ‘Period Education’ should be part of the school curriculum and boys should also be educated.
P.S. Spamming your inbox twice a day is very rare.