Nobel Hygiene campaigns to destigmatise incontinence

In perhaps the first direct campaign called '‘Azaadi Mubarak’ against the condition.

73 years ago, the word 'aazadi' meant the successful overturn of British rule. As the years and decades passed on, the word meant different things to different people. For some, it was 'aazadi' from archaic laws while for others, it was the freedom from License Raj and the country's push towards economic prosperity. Whatever it may be, once you experience it, you will never want to go back.

Friends Dry Pants - the flagship brand of Nobel Hygiene too has launched a campaign to achieve a certain 'aazadi'. It is from Incontinence (urine leakage). For a large number of people, this condition is not just a health hazard but a place of embarrassment. After weight concerns and childbirth (postpartum), a weak bladder is the largest cause of depression.

The stigma attached to it forces people to shut themselves from loved ones, quite jobs, and even change cities. It is nothing but a harrowing experience.

In what is perhaps the first direct to call communication for incontinence, the brand aims to throw a spotlight on the issue encouraging the audience to not shy away from the subject or bottle up their experiences. But instead, take control of the situation.

In the minute-long ad made by The Womb, we're shown a picture where a group of friends are ready to go on a drive but one of them refuses to come because, "... I have to visit the bathroom frequently." That's what he's informed about FRIENDS Adult Dry Pads and how his another friend is wearing them because he too suffered from the same condition.

For Friends Adult Dry Pants too, the company spent many hours researching with people suffering from incontinence. Explaining the research findings Kartik Johari, Vice-President – Marketing & e-commerce, Nobel Hygiene, said, “The 2 most common words in most articulations were “trapped” and “jailed”. People get trapped inside the houses and rationalize their life around this condition. The families become enablers, because of the exalted role of elders, their reluctance to address the problem, and general taboo!

Incontinence is a severe issue that is shrouded in taboos in our country. It needs to be taken head on as it is an unavoidable biological fact that most of us will face it at some point or the other as our bodies age. Yet we refuse to accept or extend it help. People suffering from it choose to remain silent for fear of social ostracization.

Changing lifestyles have resulted in the onset of incontinence in as young as 45. So, do we stop living our lives at 45 or remain chained to the bathroom? Our communication is rooted in authenticity and we choose to create customer delight by showcasing the truth. Incontinence needs to be accepted as a normal bodily condition that can be addressed.

Our latest campaign Azaadi Mubarak is dedicated to all men and women who go through it. It will address the issue and create awareness about it while expressing solidarity with them. For us, this is the culmination of physical and mental freedom that the product brings. It should aid people to "step out" of their “mental jails” and celebrate their freedom.”

As per the brand, Friends Dry Pants is specially designed for the Indian Body type. It is built with high absorption layers and can handle more than 1 litre of liquid which can give up to 8 hrs of protection. The anti-bacterial property, odour lock, and quick-dry layers maintain a dry feel to the skin and its cotton-like softness means no rashes. It is also indiscernible under normal Indian attire for men and women.

Amit Sharma, director, Chrome Pictures says, "I have always believed, every good script with an amazing idea is challenging. And this was a story that not only introduced me to the problem of incontinence but made me really feel for the people who feel trapped in their own houses, due to the social stigma around this problem. It was very important to capture the pain of this problem in the story for the larger audience to feel their pain and at the same moment capture the feeling of azadi experienced with Friends Adult Dry Pants."

Kawal Shoor, founding partner, The Womb says, "There are many issues that we had to juggle with for this campaign. The first was 'incontinence' - not too many people know the meaning of the word. As we got deeper into the issue we realized that many suffer from an uncontrollable urge to pee, some even pee without realizing it, across men and women, but keep this a closet problem as, especially for men, they believe it reflects a loss of masculinity and control.

So the category is filled with silent sufferers. The other issue was - what is this category about - adult diapers didn't help in alleviating shame. So right from refocusing the brand on 'dry pants' to 'normalising' the problem, to a clear promise, this was an exercise in distillation of strategy to extreme simplicity. We're excited to bring this solution to the silent sufferers, and hopefully a strong brand will get built in doing that."

Credits:

Agency : The Womb

Founding Partners: Kawal Shoor & Navin Talreja

Creative Team: Suyash Khabya, Arnab Manna, Anshu Sharma, Vikrant Wadkar

Planning Team: Rohit Sharma, Nakul Jayadevan

Account Management: Heval Patel, Omkar Kulkarni, Pranesh Arde

Production : Chrome Pictures

Director: Amit Sharma

Producter: Daniel Amanna