United Colors of Benetton India on life post mastectomy

Titled #UnitedByHer, the campaign features Vidya Malvade and has been created by Terribly Tiny Talkies, a firm that makes thematic short films. This one's about breast cancer.

Imagine losing something that you treasured all your life, something that has been an integral part of your body and enhances your femininity. For a woman, her breasts are just that and to have them removed for life is a huge blow to not just her physical identity, but her self-esteem as well. Hundreds of Indian women go through 'mastectomy', the surgical removal of one or both breasts in order to be cured of breast cancer, and to live with the stigma of being called 'flat-chested', to be pitied, or even be felt sorry for becomes a part of her rehabilitation. Though the removal of the breast may be a way to cure the disease, life after a mastectomy is often filled with mental trauma, depression, and a sense of shame.

Terribly Tiny Talkies, the video arm of the branded content specialist firm Terribly Tiny Tales, has created a film titled 'Life After' for the apparel brand United Colors of Benetton (UCB) India, which depicts a patient's life after a mastectomy. The video is a part of Benetton's Breast Cancer Awareness Month campaign #UnitedByHer.

The film, made by Amit V Masurkar, has Vidya Malvade of 'Chak De India' fame go through a mastectomy. The film opens in an operation theatre with the doctors operating on her. Once she returns home, her ecstatic son runs to her and asks her to take him on her lap, but she responds with a "I am not well". The film then shows her rehabilitation process, one which is filled with frustration and depression. She's shown going through her drawer containing her lingerie which she once wore but no longer needs and scroll through earlier photos of herself dressed in sexy outfits. Her frustration is evident when she's shown shouting at her maid for nothing. She often sits looking blank and forlorn. Eventually, she gathers the courage and heads to office, where she opens her notebook to find a 'get well soon Mamma' card made by her son. The card has a drawing of her playing the violin. She smiles as she heads back home and takes out the violin from the case and starts playing it, a sign that she is slowly heading back to normal life.

Terribly Tiny Tales has had a long-term association with UCB. On the occasion of Independence Day this year, the brand thought of having a video association and that is when the 'One Faith' video was made. That was the first India-focussed inward initiative of the brand.

Talking about the latest film, Chintan Ruparel, co-founder, Terribly Tiny Tales, says, "UCB came to us with the thought of doing something around the subject of breast cancer. We then shared the topic with our pool of writers. Each pitched an idea and eventually it was 'Life After' that we, along with Benetton, finalised."

Terribly Tiny Tales launched in 2013. After tasting success, it decided to launch its video wing Terribly Tiny Talkies. The video wing plans to disrupt the market with creative branded content in association with various brands.

Ruparel, who was formerly with Ogilvy and Mather, says, "In an agency, you have a couple of writers working on the same brand for years which results in the lack of creativity after a certain point of time. At Terribly Tiny Tales, we have writers from all over the world individually brainstorming on a topic given by a client."

According to a source in Benetton, the video can be watched only on digital platforms, but at the same time, the brand will have an on-ground activation running in Delhi through November. The brand will bear the cost of driving people to a screening organised by the Indian Cancer Society (ICS).

Expert Speak

"It's wonderfully shot, but is too long," says ‎K V Sridhar (Pops), former chief creative officer, SapientNitro. "Any attempt in this direction should be appreciated, but having said that, I will say the film lacks clarity. I was unable to understand what it wanted to communicate by showing the protagonist's frustrations and depression. Moreover, 2-2 ½ minutes is a sweet spot for a film such as this."

Did it manage to stand-out?

"There are better options. If you see 'Man Boobs', for instance. The communication needs to be crystal clear which is not so in this film. UCB, in the past, has done a lot of amazing stuff which was cutting edge and different, and therefore, from a brand like that, you expect something better. I think in this case, it failed to understand the topic properly," concludes Sridhar.