The Campaign

In a nation where bruises on a woman are considered a sign of vulnerability, we portrayed them as a mark of a woman’s strength and her #FitToFight spirit, through #BruisesCanBeGood. On International Women’s Day, when everyone’s celebrating strong women, we got the nation talking about something that’s contradictory to their empowerment – bruises. A social experiment was conducted where people were brought face-to-face with a bruised woman and asked what did they think happened to her? 85% of them claimed the reason to be physical violence, bringing to light the cruel truth – violence against women is so common in India that a bruised woman is always seen as a victim. A twist at the end revealed the protagonist's identity – a mixed martial artist, claiming #BruisesCanBeGood if one is #FitToFight. The experiment concluded with a request to sign the petition to make self-defence education mandatory for female students.

Creative Execution

On March 7, 2018, a day before International Women’s Day, we planted unidentified bruised women at prominent locations in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore – India’s top metro cities. This set the prelude for what was to follow. Conversations and questions started floating in the social space with people wondering about the bruised woman they had come across. A petition was written on Change.Org appealing the nation’s leaders to make self-defence education mandatory for female students. Next day, on Women’s Day, the mystery behind the bruised women was revealed to the nation when we released the social experiment video. The call-to-action at the end of the video urged viewers to sign the petition on www.bruisescanbegood.com. To disseminate the message of #BruisesCanBeGood, events were hosted in colleges across major cities. The brand’s social channels were used to further spread the message and request signations on the petition.

#BruisesCanBeGood has stirred the nation, with over 58,000 signatures on the petition so far, asserting the need for a reform for a strong and safe society. The brand plans to take the appeal to the government in person. Different organizations from around the country, from residential welfare associations to state police, have independently taken up the task of providing self-defence education to their female students and employees. The campaign has reached 12.2 million people and garnered earned media worth INR 7.5 million. The #BruisesCanBeGood social experiment has received over 8 million views across multiple digital platforms and increased the brand’s view time on YouTube by 80000%.

The campaign was targeted towards the adult, educated, urban population – both men and women. The insight was born through one of the biggest signs of violence against women — bruises. There’s a story behind every bruise. How often do we hear one that ends on a good note? The task was to show that bruises can be a mark of a woman’s fighting spirit, instead of indicating weakness. To bring about a nationwide change, we involved the people who make the decisions for the country – from the Prime Minister of India to Union Cabinet Ministers. The only way to get their attention was to speak out as one nation. A petition was written on Change.Org appealing them to initiate a reform. To get petition signatures, we planned a response-driven communication that would showcase the harsh reality of the country and urge every Indian to sign the petition.