Hamdard Laboratories encourages people to get scared in its new campaign

Playing around paranoia, the brand wants you to get scared and stay indoors against an intelligent enemy – the Coronavirus.

Nelson Mandela said, “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”

Today, the biggest act of bravery on our part is to simply stay indoors and follow all the precautions necessary to keep ourselves and others safe from the spread of Coronavirus. And, drilling this very fact is Hamdard Laboratories, with its new campaign #MainDarpokHoon.

It features ace wrestlers and Commonwealth Games Gold medallists Geeta and Babita Phogat, along with rifle 'daadis' Chandro and Prakashi. The message is clear: instead of showing off foolish courage against the Coronavirus, it is better to be scared of it, and stay indoors and follow all the precautions – you will be safe then.

Posted by Hamdard Laboratories India - Medicine Division on Saturday, May 9, 2020

It is interesting to see Hamdard feature these women in its ad film. They are all fearless, inspiring and hail from Haryana, a state that isn't the friendliest towards women. Adding to that, getting them to say, "I am scared", in Haryanvi no less, makes you sit and take notice.

At the end of the ad film, we see the brand’s range of immunity-boosting products, with the message, "Because Immunity is the first step to prevention.“

Suman Varma, chief marketing officer, Hamdard Laboratories (medicine division), said, “When we set out to work on the film, we were very clear that in times like this, we have to act responsibly and respond sensibly, and leverage the norms set by the government. We chose a slightly unconventional way of sending out the message to the audience. As a brand, we wanted to say in times like this, boosting one’s immunity is the first step of prevention, besides all the precautions we are being told to take, to stay safe.”

Pranav Harihar Sharma, creative consultant for Hamdard Laboratories (medicine division), said, “Fear makes us extra cautious and it is the exact need of the hour today. We are living in Corona times, and the best we can do to fight it is to be vigilant of it and follow preventive measures like wearing masks, washing hands and follow social distancing norms. #MainDarpokHoon takes an entertaining route to convey the message and depicts fear as the greatest strength in defeating the pandemic.”