Mumbai: Viacom18’s Youth and English Entertainment brands MTV, MTV Beats, Vh1, Comedy Central and Colors Infinity joined hands with Ketto, an online fundraising website, to launch an Anti-Tobacco Campaign on ‘World No Tobacco day’. The campaign is not just aimed at creating Anti-Tobacco awareness but also encourages people to donate in support of Ketto’s initiative to help Cancer patients.
MTV, MTV Beats, Vh1, Comedy Central and Colors Infinity, have activated a five-brand digital campaign, to spread the message to quit smoking and save lives. While the English Entertainment channels of Viacom18, Comedy Central and Colors Infinity have taken the video route to spread the message, the pioneer of English Entertainment and Music in India, Vh1 presents a unique method to fight the urge of smoking with the launch of a fun fidget microsite. Research states that it takes approximately 3.5 minutes to smoke a cigarette. Vh1 is geared up to replace that urge by launching the healthy digital fidget toy. MTV has shared ‘Letters to Cigarettes’ on its social media platforms. All these activities are being cross promoted across all the five brands.
While the brands are hoping to reach out to their consumers through initiatives over the digital space, MTV Beats has set up a social experiment to spread the anti-tobacco message amongst the youth. Viacom18’s Bollywood music channel is using Bollywood to paint a grim yet entertaining picture of hazards of smoking. The initiatives undertaken by the brands are to encourage consumers not to only change their lifestyle, but to also change lives through donation in support of Ketto’s efforts towards raising funds for Cancer patients.
Speaking about this exciting campaign for World No-Tobacco Day which falls on May 31, Ferzad Palia, Head – Youth and English Entertainment, Viacom18 shared “We cater to a young and vibrant audience. And while everyone is aware that smoking or chewing tobacco is harmful, most young people do it anyway because it is perceived as ‘cool’ or sometimes due to peer pressure. What we are aiming to do through this unique five brand campaign is to try and speak to them in a language they understand – humour – to truly drive home the message. However, instead of just telling them to quit smoking, we’re also asking them to go a step ahead and donate to help those in need through our association with Ketto. The message is simple – give up smoking to save yourself and others too!”
Delighted with the activities to be rolled out by the brands, Varun Seth, Founder, Ketto shared, “Our intent is to change lives by encouraging people to donate for a good cause. We are sure that our partnership with Youth and English Entertainment brands of Viacom18 would help us spread the message. These brands are widely consumed by the young population of India, apt as our target consumers for the campaign is the youth.”
The Youth and English Entertainment brands of Viaom18 have rolled out the activities, in association with Ketto on the World No Tobacco Day, 31st May, 2017.
