Urban Company wants to humanise the mask…

… because, while it protects us, it also takes away our identity.

“Jis Deepu ki muskaan se sabko raahat milti thi, is saal ne uski muskaan bhi chheen li,” says the voice-over in Urban Company’s ad.

The 84-second-long ad talks about one of the most hurtful aspects of the COVID pandemic-induced lockdown – the chipping away of our identity slowly. We see Deepu, an Urban Company service executive, losing his spirit under the (face) mask.

The brand, a tech-based home services marketplace, believes that masks, whilst protecting us, make us invisible to others. Imagine walking down the street and seeing someone grinning. You’re bound to smile too, right? Well, that doesn’t happen now, thanks to the masks. This doesn’t mean we should not wear the masks. Urban Company, in fact, has a different plan.

As a part of its #WearASmile campaign, Urban Company has simply added a smile to the masks of its service professionals.

Tarun Menon, director, marketing, Urban Company, said, “For our service professionals, masks hide their faces, making them unrecognisable; hiding the individuals behind the masks. Through the pandemic, we’ve heard stories from around the world that have reaffirmed our faith in the indomitable human spirit.”

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A post shared by Akshar Pathak (@aksharpathak)

“Our intent, with this small change to the masks our service professionals wear, is to make them (the masks) a little more human, with the smallest of reminders of that unbeatable human spirit - a smile.”

A smile should never be hidden. So we decided to put a smile on our #HeroesOfOYO along with @urbancompany_UC . It’s time we all #WearASmile :)#TueGoodTuesdays #Smile #RahoSafe #RahoMast pic.twitter.com/x1Vcsvipyt

— OYO (@oyorooms) December 8, 2020

And that’s not it. Urban Company has roped in brands such as Uber, OYO, BigBasket, Ola Money and PharmEasy (to extend support to its campaign). Some will change their social media display pictures (across platforms) to their respective logos with smiling face masks on them, and so will Urban Company.