Grooms not for sale on Shaadi.com

The online match-making brand takes a stand against dowry in its latest digital ad

The online match-making service Shaadi.com has released a new digital campaign titled #NotForSale in order to take forward its social initiative ShaadiCares. The initiative aims to tackle the social evils of child marriage, dowry, and domestic abuse. Under the same initiative, the brand had pranked its customers last year with an innovative dowry calculator -- 'How much dowry are you worth?'

The #NotForSale campaign is based upon Shaadi.com's study on dowry and the disparity faced by women. The surveys undertaken highlighted that over 80 per cent Indian women feel dowry is the most severe form of gender disparity, and 71.2 per cent single men are more sensitive towards it as compared to married men.

The video depicts Indian men of marriageable age who are, today, standing up against this social evil and urging others to do so as well. The anti-dowry monologue in the video moots the idea, 'The end of dowry begins with you'.

Commenting on the initiative, Aditya Save, chief marketing officer, Shaadi.com, says, "It is heartening to see that young men no longer think dowry is acceptable. We wanted to reflect this strong point of view through #NotForSale. It's always difficult to draw attention to a problem that already exists and one we are aware of. The #NotForSale initiative is an effort on our part to help sections of society re-evaluate their actions."

ShaadiCares is a social initiative by shaadi.com to tackle the ills of the institution of marriage and to empower people to find respect and happiness in it. Through ShaadiCares, the brand aims to raise awareness among its members about how marriage can and should be about 'together for good'.