HE Deodorants and Orchard Advertising India unite against the objectification of women

Advertising today is heavily dependent on sexy women, provocative messaging and outlandish claims of increasing desirability for the opposite sex. The deodorant category in particular has seen many such stereotypes, where brands compete to be the best chick magnet.

HE Deodorants, the range of men’s grooming products that forms the modern new face of the Emami Group, bucks the trend with Orchard Advertising (part of the Leo Burnett Group India) as their partner. The agency’s work on International Men’s Day over the last couple of years has been hugely refreshing and entertaining.

VIEW THE TEASER FILM

VIEW THE FILM

So when HE Deodorants was looking to launch a new variant, Orchard Advertising and the brand teams put their minds together to come up with something equally exciting and clutter breaking. What emerged as an idea was to create an act that would call for some fresh thinking not just in the deodorant category, but in our daily lives and the way we look at women.

The agency thus devised a product idea and relied on strategic communication to champion the cause of “respect to women” in all walks of life. A polar opposite to everything the category at large propagates.

The brand team at HE Deodorants was equally enthusiastic and brave enough to take the idea into an uncharted territory. Which was to create a product that embodies the smell of respect.

And thus was born HE Respect.

The thought behind the campaign was simple. Real men respect women. Because HE Respect is a perfect men’s product that stands up for women on all fronts.

The campaign, which is designed around the central thought “Respect Women” features a TVC, supported by a series of digital films. The TVC outlines how women are made uncomfortable through small and big gestures on a daily basis. The work will also be rolled out across other traditional platforms.

Hrithik Roshan and Vir Das are instrumental in supporting the cause in the campaign and the digital space. Harsha V Agarwal, Director, Emami Ltd, said, “We believe that there is a need to nurture a positive role model among men, who are able to accord respect to women. HE Respect seeks to honour and bring into light such men who believe in honouring women,”

Talking about the campaign, RajDeepak Das, Chief Creative Officer, The Leo Burnett Group India, said,” HE Respect has been a passion project for us from the very beginning. We were clear that an important message needs adequate firepower and support to make a real difference. And we had fantastic partners in the HE brand team who believed in us enough to develop an entirely new product and then a powerful campaign that takes on well established industry practices head on.”

Sharmine Panthaky, VP and Branch Head – Mumbai, Orchard Advertising, said, “With HE Deodorants as a brand we have been clear that there is no merit in falling prey to any of the usual tactics brands and categories employ to sell more stock. We are not interested in helping men attract more women. We would rather stand up for women across the world to give them due respect. This may seem counter intuitive in the category, but we are sure our effort to buck the trend will find support, and we will emerge as the first brand to have taken such a strong stand for women.”

The campaign is currently live on digital platforms. Launched on 13th May, it has already garnered more than 100,000 views on Facebook. Clearly, it is an idea that has connected with people and instigated conversations.

The teaser phase is supported by an activation where thousands of men were sent RESPECT T-shirts. They were requested to wear them and click selfies and post them on the brand’s Facebook page and Twitter handle to endorse the RESPECT philosophy.

Credits –

Meenakshi Samantaray