Alcon, a global leader in eye care, as a part of its public service initiative, has rolled out a cinema campaign to create awareness about the role of a timely cataract surgery in avoiding blindness in view of World Sight Day observed on October10.
Alcon teamed up with Khushi Advertising Ideas Pvt. Ltd., a cinema advertising agency, and created an ad that has compelled people to sit up and take notice. The 30-second ad starts with nothing but a blank screen with only sounds of birds chirping and a baby laughing. This continues for about 12-13 seconds and leaves the audience visibly perplexed. Some even wonder whether there is a projector malfunction, until the first visual comes up, which is only the text that reads — ‘1,20,00,000* people in India see the world like this’.
Through the remaining ad, this number goes up by one every three seconds and the copy below it reads – ‘Every three seconds someone is getting blind due to cataract’. This is followed by the logos of Alcon and World Sight Day in the last two seconds of the ad.
“Such strong messaging has left the audience shaken and I am sure, also awakened,” said Vishnu Telang, CEO, Khushi Advertising. “The ad is a true example of how powerful, something so simple can be. No influencers, no flashy design, no product display and no logo presence through 98% of the ad. The simple yet impactful communication did the job brilliantly. I am certain that people will recall this ad and the effort of Alcon for a long time.”
Shourav Das, Senior Manager, Practice Development, Alcon India, said, “We wanted to bring the focus of both patients and care-givers on how cataract potentially lessens the quality of life. Following an eye surgeon’s advice and not procrastinating a simple cataract surgery can help one get back to life and light. With World Sight Day, we were planning a series of activities to spread awareness on this subject, which actually is the largest cause of blindness in India and when Khushi came to us with the concept, we loved the idea and went ahead with it. We at Alcon are positive that this campaign will touch a lot of people and raise even more awareness about cataract and dispel the myths woven around it.”
Gautam Dutta, CEO, PVR, said, “This campaign is a perfect example of how cinema as a medium can be effectively used to spread awareness about health and social issues. Cinemas offer a captive and receptive audience who is more likely to absorb advertising communication and when the message is as powerful and relevant as this, the impact is massive. I am glad that Alcon and Khushi have made optimum use of this excellent advertising medium and created a campaign that is sure to open people's eyes to this grave issue."
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