MS Dhoni urges 'Play Safe, Pay Safe' in Mastercard’s new campaign

Mastercard has launched a new card advocacy campaign, ‘Payments Ka Powerplay’. The campaign, live from October 1 till 15, features former Indian cricket team captain and Mastercard’s brand ambassador, Mahendra Singh Dhoni in a series of six commercials highlighting the benefits of using cards.

The campaign uses cricket analogies to empower cardholders to confidently make payments through cards. One analogy compares the width of a cricket bat to the four-centimeter range within which contactless transactions can occur, making contactless payments easier to understand and addressing misinformation around their safety. Another analogy compares chargebacks to Decision Review System (DRS), a technology-based system in cricket that helps on-field umpires make accurate decisions.

“‘The ‘Payments Ka Powerplay’ campaign is an intervention towards reshaping commerce in India by encouraging cardholders to go with card payment options that are highly convenient, secure, and rewarding. With cricket being a major passion point for consumers across the country, Mastercard has roped in MS Dhoni, one of India’s most popular cricketers, to take the benefits of using cards to the masses. Among other things, this initiative will play a role in addressing the misinformation around card payments, promoting the usage of card control settings and generating widespread awareness about the benefits of tokenised transactions,” said Gautam Aggarwal, division president, South Asia at Mastercard. 

The commercials will air on TV, YouTube, OTT platforms, retail activations, OOH, and social media, with content integration across TV shows and digital channels.