Over time, we have explored and identified every possible damage that a cigarette can cause to one’s health. As a result of constant research, we have run out of hazards and more importantly, the world has heard and had enough. So, do we give up now? No. A big blatant NO. Why? Because we are TBWA. We don’t give up. We disrupt.
I am new to TBWA and hence unfamiliar with the intricacies of the disruption process. However, I know the basics. And therefore…
Convention: Cigarette Kills
Disruption: Cigarette Saves
How can a cigarette save a life? First guess. A smoker’s desperate last effort to convince himself that smoking isn’t all that bad. The truth. A smoker at TBWA’s Bangalore office spends an average of three and a half rupees on a single cigarette. We have 40 employees here, among which 16 are smokers. If each smoker, gives up one cigarette a day, and drop that money in a drop box, we will have Rs.56, come the end of the day. Rs.1120 a 4-week month. Now comes a strange coincidence; or maybe even a sign. The Rs.1120 that can be saved a month by us smokers is exactly the amount of money Salima jaan direly needs. And you say – “Salima who?”
Well, not many of us know Salima jaan. It is probably because we fail to notice her amidst our own traumatized lives. Bad deadlines, unreasonable servicing guys, weird clients, egoistic writers, and artless art directors. Goodness. Amidst all these life and death situations, who has time for an ugly old woman, who cleans the ashes, mutters something to herself, and passes us.
After all she earns a whopping Rs.2000, out of which more than half is spent on treating her eldest son – a victim of an accident, medical negligence and money. She is also holds the title of the sole breadwinner for a family comprising an old man, two daughters, a widow and a few little kids.
So fellow smokers, let us unite for a cause. If I say there is nothing in it for you but prayers, you might shrug it off. But I saw her pray for one of our colleagues today. He gave her some money. And she cried and she prayed. There was so much conviction on her face that made the atheist in me want to believe in god just for once.
Drop in a cigarette (monetary equivalent) in the drop box provided. It reads ‘Salima Humari Jaan’.
Thank you.
Note: For non-employees, the box is placed at TWBA, 4th floor, A1 Tower, Golden Enclave, Airport Road.
2 comments:
Nothing to do with Salima, but if you want more "disruption", you could always apply the spirit behind the Darwin Awards as a reason to encourage smoking.
Smokers "ensure the long-term survival of the human race by removing themselves from the gene pool in a sublimely idiotic fashion" - spending huge amounts of money to inhale poisonous fumes.
the money we could have saved... the money that could have been used for a better purpose.... I agree and disagree. In individual cases like these, it makes a world of sense. But in the big picture, there are salima Jaan's in indian tobacco company also!!
The people who get money through cigarettes spend it... in one way or the other and other people get benefited.
Money is a circle... vicious it may be, but its a circle, it comes back in other ways.
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