Mumbai : Global pharma giant Cipla’s brand Nicotex, a leading nicotine replacement therapy (commonly abbreviated to NRT) has launched the #UQuitIQuit movement in India. Targeting not only smokers, but also their families and friends, the campaign gives smokers’ loved ones a chance to quit a bad habit in a show of solidarity to the smoker quitting cigarettes. For instance, “U quit smoking, I quit junk food.” The campaign was spearheaded by m/six and conceptualized by the creative agency McCann.
#UQuitIQuit is the “Quit Smoking Partner” for the second season of the Hero Indian Super League, or ISL, one of the top-tier professional football leagues in India (the other being the I-League). The Hero Indian Super League features eight franchise teams, each representative of a different part of India.
#UQuitIQuit is heavily endorsed by a celebrity squad of eight people, one per team, including national football legend Bhaichung Bhutia for Kolkata, film star Neil Nitin Mukesh for Pune, Tamil composer Devi Sri Prasad for Chennai and many others. The celebrities leverage ISL matches, promotions and social platforms to canvas their respective cities and motivate people to give up a bad habit (including smoking).
Himava Nath, Head Marketing of Consumer Health, Cipla commented on the success of the campaign, “Many anti-smoking campaigns have been launched over the years, and they often rely on horrific picture-based warnings and negative messages that are intend to scare smokers into quitting. The truth is smokers are immune to this approach. We recognize that giving up smoking is a hard and lonely journey. With support from friends or family, this journey is less daunting – smokers are accountable to someone other than themselves to change for the better. We are very happy with the on-going success of #UQuitIQuit.”
Rajit Desai, Principal Partner of m/six India, said “We wanted to change the conversation around quitting smoking – the tagline ‘choose life’ is a positive angle on the long-existing issue of smoking. The celebrities were carefully chosen and the catchphrase UQuitIQuit is self-explanatory, which made it spread quickly and effectively across social platforms, engaging tens of thousands of young and middle-aged people effectively.”
With over 54,000 social conversations and 15 million+ viewers and counting, #UQuitIQuit is a notable cause-based campaign inviting social pledges from all over the country.
