Ask for clean hands to savour healthy street food, says Savlon India's latest initiative

Hygiene -- more importantly hand hygiene, a basic measure of precaution -- has been a major concern in most of the parts in India. In the past, initiatives such as Dettol’s Banega Swachh India and Lifebuoy’s ‘Help a Child reach 5,’ have changed the way Indians look at hygiene in India.

Savlon, in its latest initiative, went ‘street style’ this World Hand Hygiene Day (celebrated on May 5). Indians love street food but have never bothered about the ‘hygiene’ factor of those who serve food. Keeping this in mind, Savlon India’s ‘Savlon Swasth India Mission’ focuses on hand hygiene and the need to ‘Ask for clean hands.’

The genesis of this initiative was a simple observation on how hand hygiene is often ignored while indulging in street food. The initiative encourages consumers to ask for clean hands by ringing a bell kept at select street stalls. An experience from the streets of Mumbai is captured in a short video created by Ogilvy & Mather, Mumbai.

It is quite difficult to change one's behaviour and to motivate people to do that, the process of communication and education has to be fun and engaging. ‘Ask for clean hands’ by ringing the Savlon Swasth India bell was an engaging tool deployed to help initiate the habit of washing hands with soap or a hand-wash.

The initiative in its introductory phase is being rolled out at some frequented street food clusters in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. Savlon Hand Wash sachets are being provided to encourage vendors to clean their hands before serving food.

Sameer Satpathy, Chief Executive, Personal Care Products Business, said, “Hand hygiene is a critical issue and is often ignored in the popular street food culture that thrives in India. Savlon Swasth India Mission’s ‘Ask for clean hands’ is a unique initiative beginning this World Hand hygiene Day that encourages consumers to demand for clean hands while indulging in street food.”

Harshad Rajadhyaksha and Kainaz Karmakar, ECDs, Ogilvy Mumbai, said, “A simple idea always has the ability to provoke thought and change behaviour. ‘Ask for clean hands’ is one such idea where our intention was to make asking for clean hands to become a fun habit.”

Ramakrishnan Hariharan, Senior CD, Ogilvy Mumbai, said, “What’s immensely satisfying about this activity is the public response it has garnered. There is clearly a mass level, collective need for good hygiene in our country. It's just that it has not been given the due importance, so one demands for it. What a beautiful way of starting a conversation about basic hand hygiene, and making people realise they can actually ask for it.”

The Video:

Credits:

Client: ITC

Brand: Savlon

Agency: Ogilvy and Mather, Mumbai

ECDs: Kainaz Karmakar and Harshad Rajadhyaksha

Senior CD: Ramakrishnan Hariharan

CD Art: Nishant Jethi

Creative Team: Vinay Pawaskar, Ashok Karkala, Mahesh Ambaliya and Nirav Khant

Account Management: Ajay Menon, Roshni Mohan, Neha Agarwal and Maitree Lonare

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