Ogilvy & Big FM make the Kite Festival in India safer for birds

Ogilvy, in collaboration with Big FM, delivered a notable message for the kite festival – Uttarayan.

During this festival, the sky turns into a canvas where thousands of colourful kites take over the sky. While birds rule the sky throughout the year on this day, it has been noticed that lots of birds die when they come in contact with the glass coated string that is used to fly these kites that engage in a duel in the sky by cutting one another’s kites. Frequently, birds get caught in the strings in this duel in the sky, and they are either maimed or killed.

While Uttarayan is a fun festival, at the same time, we need to exercise caution to prevent harming our birds. We cannot enjoy this festival at the cost of nature. The sky is home to birds, and they need to feel safe there.

Big FM, who is known to undertake various thought-led and purpose driven initiatives, raised awareness on the issue at hand. Big FM RJs interviewed a ‘talking Parrot’, who responded to the RJs on the issue.

The activity took place on the Uttarayan morning in Baroda and Surat. Before launching this activity, a teaser in the voice of the same Parrot was released on Big FM.

Elaborating on the campaign, Kiran Anthony and Mahesh Gharat, CCO, Ogilvy South (India), said, “Uttarayan is a festival that we look forward to as it is beautiful to see the sky turn colourful on that day. But in the midst of this fun activity, the biggest danger is faced by birds, who die because of the glass coated threads tangling in the sky. So, we wanted to make people aware of the dangers of using these threads and who better than the bird itself telling the world how it feels. We turned a Parrot into a spokesperson who will drive home the message of the dangers of using glass coated threads and appeal to people to use non-glass coated threads.”

Sunil Kumaran, Country Head - Product, Marketing and THWINK BIG, Big FM, added here, “Uttarayan, also known as the new year in Hindu calendar, brings a lot of hope and happiness amongst people. However, as we all look forward to the sky turning colourful with bright kites, it is also important to address how dangerous it is to the birds. At Big FM, we have always believed in creating and promoting thought provoking and purpose driven campaigns. We are glad to partner with Ogilvy, who has taken a step further in raising awareness and delivers an important message to the celebrants of the festival.”

Campaign Credits:

Created by Ogilvy in collaboration with Big FM 

Creative: Sukesh Nayak, Harshad Rajadhyaksha,  Kainaz Karmakar, Mahesh Gharat, Kiran Anthony, Dipen Patel, Mukesh Kumar, Guru. Harshad Salian.

Servicing: Sai Ghatpande

Cluster Programming Manager, BIG FM: Parth Parekh 

Production House: Lucifer Circus

Producer: Gaurav Chanana