Dabur Red Paste urges Indians to #SwitchToFluorideFree toothpaste

New Delhi: Dabur Red Paste, the Ayurvedic toothpaste brand, has launched #SwitchToFluorideFree campaign on World Oral Health Day. 

The month-long campaign aims to start a dialogue and sensitise the Indian population about the adverse effects of consuming further fluoride through toothpaste in Fluoride endemic regions of India.

The campaign will travel multi-cities to start a nationwide dialogue on oral health care and the ingredients we often tend to ignore while using oral care products. The campaign will highlight the real truth behind how and why fluoride became a ‘hero’ in the oral care industry and bust myths about what it actually entails.

Dabur India has entrusted Mixed Route Juice, a Delhi and Bangalore-based marketing agency, to design and execute the brand campaign. The campaign has been brought to life with influencer engagements, on-ground activations, informative articles and videos.

Fluoride has long been added to toothpaste as a cavity-fighting ingredient. However, recent studies have raised concerns about fluoride health risks, particularly its impact on children and long-term exposure effects through drinking water and other sources. Research shows that high fluoride intake is linked to skeletal fluorosis, thyroid dysfunction, brittle bones, and cognitive decline in children. In fact, research suggests that fluoride levels above 1.5 mg/L in drinking water can contribute to lower IQ in children. Hence, the need for fluoride-free toothpaste is growing rapidly.

Despite being marketed as essential for oral care, fluoride can accumulate in the body over time. Even with thorough rinsing, traces of fluoride can be absorbed, and the fluoride from other sources may lead to potential health complications affecting the bones, liver, kidneys, and mental health. Given these concerns, the shift towards fluoride-free oral care is gaining momentum worldwide. A lot of international Key Opinion leaders have also started awareness drives in their own individual capacity.

Abhishek Jugran, Executive Vice-President-Marketing (EVP), Dabur India, said, “With this campaign, we aim to drive awareness towards a crucial but often times concealed issue. Our goal is to ensure that consumers make informed choices for themselves that will automatically lead to a healthy population. We are also aiming to shake up traditional marketing beliefs with this campaign. Everything that works for the international market isn’t in the best interest of Indian Markets. Our products are centered around effortlessly plugging in the need gaps in Indian markets with Natural Ingredients that have been tried and tested over years. Our call out to our consumers is simple. Read up, research and make independent informed choices.”

Amrita Sharma, Founder & Creative Director, Mixed Route Juice, said, “At MRJ, we are all for meaningful, purpose-driven communications. We are grateful that this opportunity came our way and we could add Dabur and the product Red toothpaste in particular to our portfolio. We’ve used a mixed media touch-points approach where digital becomes a central pillar, on-ground activations driven in priority markets to spread awareness and influencers as media vehicles for driving conversations.”