For asthma, 'inhalers hain sahi', says Ayushmann Khurrana

The Bollywood actor stars in Cipla’s #BerokZindagi campaign that encourages asthmatics to lead a life without limitations.

As per a story on The New Indian Express on November 3, “… India contributes to 11.1 per cent of the global asthma burden, but it accounts for over 42 per cent of all global asthma deaths.”

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “Patients can live full and rewarding lives with the right treatment and management.” What one needs to battle, however, are the myths and apprehensions around this condition.

Myths, such as you can’t exercise or that inhalers are a sign of weakness, need to go. It’s exactly what Cipla’s third chapter of the #BerokZindagi campaign aims to do. Featuring Bollywood actor Ayushmann Khurrana, a digital film (part of the campaign) aimed to dispel myths and fears regarding asthma, and encourage asthmatics to lead a life without limitations.

Khurrana narrates the tales of three renowned achievers, who did not let asthma stop them from achieving their dreams: Popular comedian Bharti Singh, Michelin star chef Vikas Khanna, and Arjuna awardee badminton player Parupalli Kashyap.

Vikas Gupta, head - India business prescription at Cipla, said, “Cipla's ethos has been firmly rooted in our purpose of `Caring for life’. Our public awareness campaign `Berok Zindagi’ resonates with our philosophy. We have always placed patient well-being at the core of all our initiatives and this campaign is also centred on the principles of driving awareness about asthma, eliminating the stigma and misconceptions associated with it.”

“Our success in the last two campaigns assured and motivated us that we are on the right path. The third chapter of `Berok Zindagi’ continues to convey the core message that ‘asthma ke liye inhalers hain sahi’ (inhalers are right for asthma), and will continue in building awareness and educating everyone about asthma and its right treatment.”

Sahil Shah, senior creative strategist, Schbang, added, “My own experience of living with asthma has been the basis for much of what Ayushmann says in this film, which has been written with an aim to connect with asthmatics like myself on a deeply personal level."

"The intent is not to 'school' asthmatics, but to acknowledge the challenges we face at both a health-related as well as social level with sensitivity and concern. Empathise with us and give us hope by narrating the true stories of three extraordinary achievers that a life with asthma holds a lot of promise, if only we choose inhalers to manage it well.”

As per a press note, “With the success of the previous campaign, there has been an ad recall of 40 per cent, and awareness of inhalers has gone up by 10 per cent and consideration of inhalers has gone up by five per cent.”

This digital film was scripted by the creative team at Schbang, directed by Nilay Singh and produced by Abhimanyu Balasubramanyam.

Here are a couple of previous ads from this campaign: