Sunlight launches ‘Sunlight Tantir Rong’, to support Bengal’s local handloom weavers

Sunlight detergent, West Bengal’s most loved and iconic detergent brand, today announced the launch of its new initiative ‘Sunlight Tantir Rong’ to support Bengal’s local handloom weavers.

Over the last few years, weavers in Bengal have been struggling given the changing consumer preferences and the rise of power looms. Covid-19 has worsened the situation, severely impacting the lives and livelihoods of these skilled weavers. Thousands of these weavers, who have been dressing Bengal in myriad colours over generations are now facing an existential crisis, signaling a dark future for this traditional craft of Bengal.

This Pujo, Sunlight wants to add back colours to the lives of these weavers who have been adding so many colours to people’s lives. ‘Sunlight Tantir Rong’ will connect these traditional weavers with famous contemporary designers, to give them a platform to showcase their magic and art.  Sunlight will launch its first exclusive collection with the fashion designer Parama Ghosh (https://paramacalcutta.com/) in collaboration with 12 local weavers from Bengal. The website will serve as a platform to showcase their skills and also allow consumers to explore the collection and buy the sarees to support the cause.

For this first and exclusive collection, Parama and Sunlight have created unique ‘labels’ with weaver names, wherein the weaver precedes the designer herself. Parama has blended traditional motives with her signature style, inspired from Bengali literature, classic films, extraordinary women and the majestic beauty of Bengal to create a vibrant, magical and eclectic collection of 25 sarees across five traditional clusters – Taant, Jamdani, Begumpuri, Shantipuri and Gawrod. Each collection has the weaver’s name weaved into the label. The collection features five iconic women from Bengal – Somlata Acharyya, Sohini Sengupta, Nandini Bhowmick, Parama Ghosh and Alaknanda Roy respectively.

Additionally, SVF, Eastern India’s largest entertainment company, will also show support by featuring some of these creations in their upcoming films & digital content, also giving end credits to the weavers.

Commenting on the initiative, Prabha Narasimhan, Executive Director – Home Care, HUL, says, “Since time immemorial, handlooms have been a part of local culture in West Bengal and many of these weavers who have been adding colours in our lives since generations have been hit hard by the pandemic. We are delighted to launch ‘Sunlight Tantir Rong’, an initiative which will provide the community with a platform to showcase their magical art and talent and bring them at our fingertips. This initiative is a small step towards bringing back colours to the lives of these weavers and their families.”

Ajay Mehta, Head Content Partnership and Experiential, Mindshare said, “For an iconic brand like Sunlight being weaved into the local culture of its bastion market is a key unlock to build a strong connect with its target audience. The campaign ‘Sunlight Tantir Rong’ allows us to beautifully bring alive the brands values & purpose by standing for the betterment of the Weaver community in Bengal. A humble attempt to bring back colours into the lives of the local weavers of West Bengal.”

Arindam Biswa, Head of Brands and Strategy, SVF Entertainment, said, “This is not just a campaign but a movement to uplift a community where the art of handloom weaving is diminishing. Sunlight and Parama Calcutta have been our pillar of strength and this experience has been extremely humbling for all of us. Also, redesigning the iconic yellow Sunlight packet with the five different weaves from Parama’s collections has been a complete delight.”

By launching the Sunlight Pujo pack edition, for the first time ever, the brand has also changed the product pack design to take this campaign to the masses. The pack will have a QR Code which can be scanned and will take people directly to the campaign website, where they can explore and buy from the exclusive collection.

CREDITS:

Brand: Sunlight, Hindustan Unilever Limited

HUL Marketing Team:

Prabha Narasimhan, ED & VP Home Care

Nitish Bhalotia, GM Fabric Care Core

Brand team: Radhika Gokhale, Sabhayata Singh

HUL Media Team:

Gauravjeet Singh, Bincymon George, Jackie Kalwani

Agency: Mindshare

Ajay Mehta, Sr. Vice president, Content+

Harshdeep Chhabra, Sr. Vice president

Content team: Sunny Rangwani, Avni Kanakia

Client leadership team: Vinit Nair, Puja Chauhan, Nikhita Arora

Buying team: Rohin Desai, Rajesh Rao

Production partner: SVF entertainment

Director: Dhrubo Banerjee