Don't eat the news, says Religare Health Insurance
Through the on-ground campaign, the private insurance company talks about the harmful effects of food wrapped in newspaper and how it can cause severe health problems
Religare Health Insurance has unveiled a mass campaign titled ‘Don’t eat the news.’ Co-developed and executed by Famous Innovations, the campaign showcases how the company distributed fresh paper wraps, with facts about the harmful effects of food wrapped in newspaper printed in edible ink to street vendors along with launching a helpline to address public queries.
The campaign sheds light on harmful chemicals such as dyes, alcohol, pigments, preservatives present in newspaper ink. It can cause severe digestive problems, food poisoning, high blood pressure, kidney ailments and in certain cases can also lead to cancer. Children and the aged are at a greater risk since they have a weaker immune system.
The initiative comes after The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) recently issued an advisory citing that the consumption of food wrapped in newspapers is injurious to health and its usage should be prohibited. In a bid to generate awareness amongst people about the harmful impact of consuming food wrapped in newspapers.
Paritosh Kataria, Head of Marketing, Religare Health Insurance, said, “In India, newspapers are widely used as packaging material by small restaurants, street food vendors and even at homes. We realised that there was an urgent need to discourage this rampant practice by creating awareness, especially among unorganised food operators and also people at large. We decided to engage with street vendors and replace their newspapers with fresh paper wraps containing an awareness message. A toll-free number was printed on the paper to understand the effectiveness of the delivery of our message.”
Siddhartha Singh, CEO, Famous Innovations, said, “The idea is simple yet disruptive because it makes use of an already available but unutilised medium. It’s a classic attempt at trying to catch the reader with the right message in the wrong place – in a way that they can’t ignore it. Health Insurance is an important category that deserves far more attention than it is getting. Which is why we sought a non-traditional communication format – something that is involved in people’s everyday life and experiences.”
Within two weeks of the campaign roll out, over five lakhs fresh paper wraps were distributed and about 55,000 enquiries were received. The brand intends to tie-up with vendors across India starting with six key markets which includes Delhi/NCR, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai and Pune.
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