THE BARBERSHOP GIRLS - SHAVING STEREOTYPES

Bronze Spike
TitleTHE BARBERSHOP GIRLS - SHAVING STEREOTYPES
BrandGILLETTE/P&G
Product / ServiceCSR
CategoryA01. Fiction & Non-Fiction Film: Up to 5 minutes
EntrantGREY INDIA Mumbai, INDIA
Idea Creation GREY INDIA Mumbai, INDIA
Media Placement AUTUMN GREY Mumbai, INDIA
Media Placement 2 MEDIACOM Mumbai, INDIA
PR GENESIS BURSON COHN & WOLFE Mumbai, INDIA
Production TOWNHOUSE PRODUCTIONS Mumbai, INDIA
Additional Company ENCOMPASS Mumbai, INDIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Sandipan Bhattacharyya GREY India Chief Creative Officer
Juneston Mathana GREY India Group Creative Director
Pooja Ambulkar GREY India Associate Creative Director
Bhavesh Kosambia GREY India Group Creative Director
Jeh Alexendar GREY India Junior Copywriter
Virendra Saigaonkar GREY India Associate Creative Director
Rahul Jaigadkar GREY India Creative Supervisor
Puneet Prakash Townhouse Director
Anand Bajpai Independent Music Director
Arun Raman GREY INDIA National Planning Head
Yash Samat GREY INDIA Chairman and Managing Director
Nishant Saurabh GREY India Sr. Vice President & Office Head
Nishant Venkatram GREY India Account Director
Yash Jain GREY India Account Executive
Samir Chadha GREY INDIA Agency Film Producer
Mitalee Prabhu Townhouse Line Producer
Jignya Shedge GREY INDIA Agency Film Producer
Nihit Agarwal Townhouse Line Producer
Arnab Gayan Townhouse DOP
Jyoti Narayan Independent Real Life Hero
Neha Narayan Independent Real Life Hero
Chinmay Dalvi Townhouse Assistant Director
Manasvi Sharma Townhouse Assistant Director
Mukesh Thakur Townhouse Offline Editor
Shashank Jha Townhouse Offline Editor
Rishabh Agarwal Tonic Sound Engineer
Suvarna Tiwari Independent Singer
Satya Prakash Aseem Independent Lyricist
Anusha Shetty Autumn GREY Founder & CEO
Noopur Vasuraj Autumn GREY Creative Director
Sasha Munshi Autumn GREY Junior Copywriter
Diya Vasuraj Autumn GREY Copy Supervisor
Nishant Sethi Autumn GREY Art Director
Soumyadeep Ghosh Autumn GREY Video Supervisor
Tuhina Bapuli Autumn GREY Director - Account Management & Servicing
Shalini Ghildiyal Autumn GREY Account Director
Mithun Cotha Autumn GREY Vice President Analytics
Karthik Srivatsan Procter & Gamble Country Marketing Manager, Gillette
Omkar Bhat Procter & Gamble Brand Manager
Sambit Dwivedi Procter & Gamble Assistant Brand Manager
Anshika Maheshwari Procter & Gamble Assistant Brand Manager
Dolly Tayal Genesis BCW India Practice Chair – Brand, Sports and Entertainment
Nithin Rajasekaram Genesis BCW Associate Director
Ashish Sahoo Genesis BCW Senior Account Manager
Karuna Iyer Genesis BCW Senior Account Manager
Karishma Changlani Genesis BCW Account Manager
Saadia Memon Genesis BCW Senior Account Executive
Pranali Gandhi Genesis BCW Account Executive
Rachana Monteiro Mediacom Senior Business Director
Kalpesh Chavan Mediacom Associate Business Director
Radhikarani Sengupta Mediacom National Director
Abhishek Roy Mediacom Business Executive
Neha Bagchi Encompass Account Director
Udit Vyas Encompass Assistant Manager
Mansi Sule Kwan Client Servicing Head

Why is this work relevant for Entertainment?

Music contributes to shaping culture as it evolves with the times we’re living in. One such musical tradition that needed to change was the ’Sohar’, a folk music style that is centuries- old and finds its roots in the mythological scriptures of India. Sung to celebrate the birth of a boy, this ancient custom has been passed down from one generation to the other, further perpetuating gender stereotypes. So when Gillette decided to present the true story of two sisters who shaved these age-old stereotypes, they also wanted the music to signal a change.

Background

As the leading men’s brand, Gillette felt the responsibility to step up and take an active part in breaking gender stereotypes and creating a positive influence on culture. Their new philosophy of inspiring the best in men found common ground with the true story of two sisters from rural India who took on gender stereotypes by working as barbers. We believed their action also challenged several age-old customs, like singing the ‘Sohar.’ While the girls did the unthinkable, we wanted to change such deep-rooted musical traditions that are passed down from one generation to the other. Because the men of tomorrow grow up watching the examples we set for them.

Describe the creative idea

We had an opportunity to re-appropriate the age-old practice of singing the ‘Sohar’ as it resonated strongly with the backdrop of our story. We thus composed a new rendition of the ‘Sohar’ and also added a relevant twist to the lyrics of the song. The lyrics urge the viewer to rejoice the birth of a girl with equal fervour, for even she can bring glory to the family. Adding more meaning to the overall message of the film.

Describe the strategy

Music is a device that records the culture of a place. And in doing so, it not only mirrors culture but also propagates it. Children have impressionable minds. They’re quick to pick up on even the subtlest of messages. They learn from not only what they see, but also from what they listen to. You often find young children memorizing lyrics to a song without fully realizing the biases in them. Hence Gillette felt that it was necessary to use the power of music in a much more responsible way to reshape the archaic notions present in our culture. But more importantly, to stop these notions from influencing the next generation.

Describe the execution

We first studied different versions of the traditional ‘Sohar’ in order to identify the common phraseology used in the lyrics and the style of folk music. Then with the help of a local lyricist, we began working on our version of the ‘Sohar’, which featured a relevant twist. We rewrote the lyrics and christened the song as the ‘New Sohar’. It was composed using traditional and contemporary musical elements reflecting the changing times. After featuring in the film and gathering over 50 million views, we uploaded the ‘New Sohar’ on music streaming platforms like SoundCloud which caught the attention of prominent figures from the music industry, who applauded this endeavour. The aim was to have the new ‘Sohar’ celebrate the birth of a girl too, with equal fervour.

Describe the outcome

Garnering over 50 Mn views and close to 42 Mn conversations across social media in just 2 WEEKS #ShavingStereotypes caused a conversation unparalleled in India. With over 99% of the comments being positive, there was an outpour of support for the Barbershop Girls, within and outside digital media. Brand conversations went up by over 700%. The campaign earned 2.8 Bn PR impressions worth INR 113 Mn. People applauded the intent behind this new rendition of the ‘Sohar’, including many artists from the music fraternity. Many called it a cultural milestone, and felt that music of all things, shouldn’t hold any biases. With thousands of comments that echoed similar sentiments, the track on public demand, was finally made available on various audio streaming platforms. In fact, the girls were also invited to one of India’s biggest radio stations – Red FM, where they shared some more light into their story.

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