Condom, Condom! Campaign

This campaign uses a light-hearted approach to communicate a serious message and a practical approach to safe sex. Its central mascot is a coloured animated parrot, an animal that organisers believe represents talking and intelligence. The parrot has been designed to come across as smart, pesky, opinionated, and humourous.

The first phase of the campaign, "Jo Bola Wohi Sikander", was launched on the eve of World AIDS Day 2007 with a competition using gendered messages to get men talking about condoms. Featuring the green parrot, the PSAs created for the 3-week portion of the campaign enticed people to talk about condoms with their friends in order to arrive at the answer to various riddles, with a series of clues such as "It's a sign of manhood... but it's not a moustache." Broadcast in 5 languages across Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu, the PSAs reached 18 million men, and nearly 400,000 people responded to the advertisements by making a local call in order to compete to win a mobile phone with free talk time. Click here to watch the PSA.

The second phase of the campaign, which launched in March 2008, also linked the confidence and the smartness required to talk freely about condoms to being a "real man". The ad showed a kabaddi match - kabaddi is a team sport originally from the Indian subcontinent where chanting the word "kabaddi" during play is a crucial aspect of game. In the ad, the protagonist wins the match against a "macho" team by chanting "condom" instead of "kabaddi". Television, radio, cinema, outdoor, and print advertisements ran for a 6-week period. Click here to watch the PSA.

In the phase of the campaign lauched in August 2008, the theme of how information and communication technology (ICT) can facilitate the sharing of information about condoms was again pivotal to a ringtone campaign. The PSA centred around a scene played out at a wedding at which a mobile ringtone buzzes with a loud refrain "condom! condom!" The person holding the mobile phone is not embarrassed; rather, the reaction of those around the red-faced man is to see him as smart and responsible. Viewers were encouraged to go to the campaign website to download a condom ringtone - as well as to play an online game ("Parrot Tarrot"), learn about a telephone hotline run by Population Services International (PSI), download wallpaper, etc. Creative Director of the BBC WST India describes the thinking behind the campaign as follows: "We have always had a strong interactive, response-led component in this ongoing campaign. This downloadable ringtone provides an opportunity for our audience to translate a message into an action. This idea is to tackle the inhibitions and taboos that can be associated with condoms."

Released in December 2008, the final advertisement features the main stars of the campaign - Vrajesh Hirje and his animated parrot - and introduces two new characters, his "Aunty" and a puppy called "Condom". Carrying the message that those who use condoms are winners in life, this PSA is being broadcast in cinemas and on TV.

Safe Sex.

According to World Health Organization (WHO) statistics, there are currently around 33 million people worldwide living with HIV, 4 million in south and south-east Asia alone. The BBC WST estimates that 2.5 million people in India are living with HIV.

Over a 2-year period, the condom campaign reached 150 million men across India. At the Cannes Lion 2009 International Advertising Festival, it won a Bronze Lion in the Media category and was a finalist in the Direct Response category. The campaign also won an award at the Festival of Media, Valencia 2009.