OYO celebrates Valentine’s Day with the love story of the most unloved Monday

The hospitality technology platform urges us to #LetLoveIn, with a quirky animated digital film and a print ad that stresses, ‘Love has no language’.

For many, the day of love could be the most unloved day of the week. With Valentine’s Day falling on a Monday (yesterday) this year, it has definitely lost some romance.

Valentine’s Day falls on a Monday, only once in 10 years. And, 2022 is that year. But OYO, the leading hospitality technology platform, has attempted to add some affection to ‘Monday’, with its global campaign #LetLoveIn.

Be it ‘Monday blues’ or calling it ‘The day after the fun day’ or the excessive need for a ‘Monday-sized cup of coffee’, the first day of the week receives a lot of hate globally. But what happens when the most romantic day of the year falls on the most disliked day of the week?

For OYO, it’s an opportunity to break away from the loop of cliches surrounding Valentine’s Day. Through this campaign, OYO has taken a fun spin on meme culture around this mass pain and urges people to give love a chance, even when it's difficult to find love.

Born out of this insight, OYO has kickstarted the #LetLoveIn campaign, with a quirky animated digital film, followed by a slew of social media activations and a print ad campaign. The film starts with the unfriendly and unwelcomed entrance of ‘Monday’. As the day comes closer, it is met with ‘Love’.

This ‘Love’ transcends into the life of ‘Monday’, therefore, transforming it into a lovable and friendly being, which we don’t relate it with. Smitten by ‘Love’, ‘Monday’ loses track of what it is doing and the city gets to breathe. The entire environment transforms into a romantic gala because ‘Monday found Love’.

The ad reminds us that if an unloved ‘Monday’ can ‘Let Love In’, we can all make some time to spend with our loved ones. More importantly, it reminds us to find time for love, even on a busy working Monday.

Mayur Hola, head of global brand, OYO, said, “Valentine's Day sees love pour forth from every nook and cranny. In a sea of love, how does a brand like OYO own love? February 14, 2022 came gift wrapped with an idea. Valentine’s Day falls on Monday, the most unloved one ever. And, if an unloved Monday can #LetLoveIn, we can all make some time to spend with our families, friends, partners and, indeed, ourselves. Yes, even on a Monday. This message applies to everyone, everywhere, and as such, we are running with it globally. Hopefully, our message of optimism rings true for you as well.”

Created by Studio Eeksaurus, directed by Suresh Eriyat, the creative concept and script was envisioned and written by OYO’s in-house team that came up with the idea during a brainstorming session.

The campaign will be seen across regions, including India, the US, UK, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand.

Besides the animated film, the campaign is also visible across television, print, social media platforms and OYO’s owned channels. For the print ad, the brand has carried poetic pieces in nine languages - Punjabi, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Malayalam, Gujarati, Marathi and Kannada.

Rabindranath Tagore's poem in Bengali

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Along with the endeavour of making millions smile and feel connected, the campaign also aims to make a gripping point, i.e., Love has no language. The campaign breaks away from the generalised notion of language as a barrier to love, and considers it as a central unifying force that unites the culturally rich and diverse nation.

A newspaper is usually the first thing that every house picks up to read in the morning, even today. The brand has published ads in languages, unknown to the population of the area, to pique their interest enough to scan the accompanying QR code. This makes them take the effort to know the language of a fellow Indian and open their world to nine poetic pieces from across the country. The brand wants the readers to start this day of love by ‘letting the love in’.

Mangesh Padgaonkar's poem in Marathi 

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The campaign, which includes couplets, poems and songs in various languages, was seen across the front pages of Hindustan Times and Mint across regions yesterday. Instead of one’s regional language, the readers saw a different language from another part of the country.

The print ads go from paper to pixels effortlessly through a QR code. The code directs the reader to a translated version of the text through a microsite. The messages in different languages include warm and soul-stirring notes, along with interesting visuals, to capture the audience’s attention.

Hola added, “In February of 2021, OYO’s campaign embraced relationships of all kinds. Not just the amorous ones, but day to day relationships around us that make our lives more interesting. Today, more than ever, we believe that as a no judgement brand that OYO is, we must remind everyone that what makes us stronger, is our understanding and love for each other's uniqueness.”