P&G Shiksha uses humour to drive awareness on learning gaps in children

Delhi: P&G Shiksha, the CSR program of P&G India, launched its new campaign - #StandUpForLearningGaps, to spotlight the issue of learning gaps in children, which affects over 6 crore children in the country as per National Achievement Survey 2021.  

This year, the initiative aims to address the issue of gaps in foundational knowledge, which can sometimes manifest online as seemingly naive responses by children, often leading to mockery. 

Speaking about the new film, Abhishek Desai, Vice-President – Brand Operation and Category Leader – Grooming, P&G India, said, “For 19 years now, P&G Shiksha has championed access to education for millions of underprivileged children in India, impacting over 45 lakh children. We have reinforced this with our commitment to driving large-scale awareness regarding learning gaps, which impact over 6 crore children in India. These gaps can lead to frustration, a lack of understanding, and even ridicule. However, what often gets missed is the reason behind. By raising a pertinent question - “Would you laugh, if this happened with your child?” we are seeking to educate parents, guardians, teachers and well-wishers on the existence and impact of learning gaps, while also empowering them to identify and take steps to bridge these. We can come together to #StandupForLearningGap. Timely action can unleash a child’s full potential in leveraging education as an enabler for a brighter future.”

Conceptualised and created by Leo Burnett, the film begins with two memes being played in a standup comedy show, in which a journalist asks very simple math questions to the children. The children misunderstand the question being asked, and answer incorrectly, eventually sending the audience into a laughing frenzy. Amidst the laughter, the show lead – standup comedian Rahul Dua, poses a pertinent question to the audience – “Would you laugh, if it were your child in the video?” 

This is when the focus turns to the audience as they take the pause and realize that the incorrect answers in the meme were symptoms of learning gap. At this stage, the film then moves on to the interventions that P&G Shiksha is driving on ground along with its NGO partners to remediate learning gaps and urges the audience to stand up against learning gaps.

The campaign also includes a discussion featuring personalities from diverse backgrounds who will explore the issue of learning gaps. In-store activations at partner retail locations will further amplify the message.  

Rajdeepak Das, CCO Publicis Groupe South Asia and Chairman Leo Burnett South Asia, said, “To draw attention to one of the most overlooked problems in education in our country, "The Learning Gap" - we have used humour as a platform for our latest campaign for P&G Shiksha. We often come across memes of children making mistakes on the internet, not realizing the grim reality behind this. This is actually a learning crisis that affects almost 6 crore kids in India. By using stand-up comedy as a medium, we want to build awareness of this critical gap in learning.”

P&G India

Agency Credits:

Creative Agency - Leo Burnett

Public Relations – Madison PR

Social Media Partner – Sociowash

Events and On-Ground Activation Partner - Synergy Experiences

Online Media Activation Partner - Starcom 

Offline Media Activation - Essence Mediacomm

Film credits:

LB TEAM

Chief Creative Officer – Publicis Group for South Asia and Chairman – Leo Burnett South Asia: Rajdeepak Das

Chief Creative Officer: Vikram Pandey

Managing Partner: Abhimanyu Khedkar 

Brand Services Partner: Kaavya Narang

Senior Brand Services Associate: Khushi Panchal

Executive Creative Director: Vinit Sanghvi 

Associate Creative Director: Piyush Jaiswal

Senior Copywriter: Tabassum Hashmi 

Copywriter: Eesha Sharma

Art Director: Sameer Salvi 

Art Director: Ronak Banberu

Motion Designer: Shubham Mojar

Brand Strategy Director: Vrudhi Doshi

Brand Services Intern: Kavya Gulati 

Brand Services Intern: Lyla Shroff

 LB FILMS

Head of Films Department: Jignesh Maru

Agency Executive Producer: Anil Sonawane

 

 OFFROAD FILMS 

Director: Gary S

Executive Producer: Khalil Bachooali

Producer: Norten Menezes 

Associate Producer: Daya Suryavanshi

DOP: Shankar Raman

1st AD: Deepak Magoo 

2nd AD: Naveen Bharti

DA: Akshay Srivastava 

Line Producer: Siva Konar

Production Manager: Karan Kandhari and Ankit Satarkar

Production Designer: Shoumini Ghosh Roy

Wardrobe Stylist: Neha Panda

Hair & Makeup: Sneha Rodricks

Casting Director: Chhavi Vij

Post Producer: Vikrant Kapoor

Post Supervisor: Rahul Chavan

Offline Editor: Anshul Gupta

Grade: Dennis Gerasimov

Online Edit: Shyamal Sahoo 

CG: Rajiv (White Apple)

Music Director: Hanif Shaikh

Sound Engineer: Prince