Acko's Pride Day campaign asks people to rethink what it means to accept and support

Digital insurance platform Acko has launched a digital marketing campaign on Pride Day, which is celebrated to commemorate the first pride march. The film communicates a powerful message that even though we have come a long way in recognising the LGBTQ+ (Pride) community, this does not necessarily equate to true acceptance. We still need to work on it and ensure we can welcome one of our own if they belong to the group. The film urges us to rethink what it means to truly welcome and become an ally of the LGBTQ community.

Starring film and theatre actor Neeraj Kabi, who has won acclaim for his roles in the web series Sacred Games and Paatal Lok, the film opens with four friends at a get-together. As one of the friends, Rakesh Kapoor (RK), proudly shows that he has changed his profile cover picture on social media to the Pride colours in support of the community, the other friends pat him on the back, assuming that RK has now learnt about his son’s sexual identity. The accidental reveal leaves RK speechless as he tries to reconcile with his own conflicting actions and emotions.  

The film:

The film is based on the Pride Research conducted by Acko and YouGov in June 2021, which found that only two out of every five Indian parents said that they would be supportive if their child was part of the LGBTQ+ community. The campaign highlights this important point — ‘Post pride, Support pride, but more importantly, be ready to accept Pride.’

This campaign has been conceptualised by Leo Burnett Orchard.

The company is among the early and a handful of startups that extend a group medical insurance cover to include the partners of LGBTQ+ employees. Acko prioritises training and education programmes to sensitise and raise awareness about the LGBTQ+ community and to ensure ongoing support of LGBTQ+ staff in the company.

Ashish Mishra, Executive Vice-President, Marketing, Acko General Insurance, said, “From denial to recognition, the Indian society has come a long way in terms of their attitude towards the LGBTQ+ (PRIDE) community. However, there is still a huge amount of work to be done to make sure people are willing to accept if one of their own is part of this community. #TalkPride Campaign is our way to progress on this front.”

“We are so used to sharing our support for the LGBTQ+ community on social media. But we never take a moment to stop and think how open we will be to having someone in the family who identifies as the same. I think it is time for the country as a whole to take a step towards accepting that love is love, no matter how you choose to express it,” added Pravin Sutar, Head of Creative, Leo Burnett Orchard.

Credits: 

Agency: Leo Burnett Orchard, Bangalore

CEO and Chief Strategy Officer - South Asia Leo Burnett: Dheeraj Sinha

CEO and Chief Creative Officer - South Asia Leo Burnett: Rajdeepak Das

Managing Director India and Chief Creative Officer Leo Burnett South Asia: Rajdeepak Das

National Head and EVP: Gaurav Dudeja

National Creative Director: Vikram Pandey

Head of Creative: Pravin Sutar

Creative Team: Geo Joseph, Suketu Gohel, Mohammad Faisal Firoz, Dilin Mathew, Akash Mohan

Account Management Team: Sriya Banerjee, Chirag Jain

Production House: Content Factory

Head and Senior VP, Prodigious: Varun Shah

Director: Puneet Prakash

Sr. Content Producer: Tanaya Barve

Associate Producer: Surbhi Bafna

Client: ACKO General Insurance

Ashish Mishra, EVP, Marketing

Shilpi Saini, Senior Manager, Content

Nitin Khanna – Senior Director, Brand