Cadbury Celebrations sweetens the Rakhi touch for children with prosthetic arms

In its latest campaign for Raksha Bandhan, titled #MyFirstRakhi, Cadbury Celebrations has collaborated with experts to develop India’s first generatively-designed prosthetic arm that helps these children sense touch.

What does it feel like to have a rakhi tied around the wrist? What does the fabric of that thread feel like? Does it feel too tight or just right, like the relationship between siblings? Well, most of us can describe that feeling all too well.

However, this basic experience is deeply missed by many Indian children, who are differently abled, especially when it comes to their upper limbs. In its latest campaign for Raksha Bandhan, titled #MyFirstRakhi, Cadbury Celebrations has collaborated with experts to develop India’s first generatively-designed prosthetic arm that helps these children sense touch.

Often, these children opt for prosthetic arms. And as they grows up, the prosthetic arms are changed. Basic prosthetic arms lack the sense of touch, a very important sensation in a child’s formative years.

Cadbury Celebrations has partnering with Social Hardware, an organisation working towards providing assistive devices and rehabilitation services, to develop a low-cost prosthetic arm enabled with flex sensors and a vibration motor designed to let children feel the touch.

Commenting on the campaign, Anil Viswanathan, senior director – marketing, Mondelez India, said, “For years now, Mondelez India has been an innate part of festivals and occasions like Raksha Bandhan, and has redefined the joy of gifting and shared moments with Cadbury Celebrations. Through #MyFirstRakhi, we wanted to make a meaningful difference to the lives of these kids, who don't get to experience festivals like we do.”

“To celebrate Rakhi, you need to feel the touch of its threads and, hence, we provided a solution to give them a sense of touch. With the focus on spreading happiness and banking on the proposition of ‘Kuch Achha Ho Jaaye, Kuch Meetha Ho Jaaye’, the campaign promises a new start for children, who have missed experiencing the joy of celebrating this festival in its truest sense.”

Conceptualised by Ogilvy India, the campaign was developed with an aim of innovating, implementing and sharing the knowledge so that others could make the most of it.

“While thinking of what we should do for Rakhi this time around, we all collectively felt that this is an idea that is truly life changing, empowering, and something that we must invest and innovate in. We must make this knowledge that we create accessible for others also, so that they can benefit from it,” added Sukesh Nayak, chief creative officer – Ogilvy India.

“So, we chose this idea to make a change in someone's life and bring Raksha Bandhan to life for somebody who has not been able to (celebrate it in its truest sense) because of a condition that he has. Our agenda was to innovate, bring something new to the table, and make it easy and adaptable.”

It took the agency (Ogilvy India) 2-3 months to turn the idea into a reality. “We shared the idea with Mondelez, and everyone agreed that we should definitely make it happen. We had to look out for technology, innovation, filmmaking and NGO partners to help us find those little children. Then, we had to put it all together,” said Nayak.

The campaign film beautifully captures a physically disabled older brother Shubham’s yearning to experience the feeling of a Rakhi tied around his wrist, and the joy he experiences after his wish is fulfilled with a low-cost sensor-enabled prosthetic arm.

The campaign will be led by a TVC created by Ogilvy India, and further amplified through digital and social activations, along with innovative OOH advertising by Wavemaker.

The brand has pledged to provide these low-cost sensor-based arms to many children across the country by continuing to partner with Social Hardware in the coming year. (www.cadburycelebrationsmyfirstrakhi.com)