On the occasion of International Women’s Day Reebok launched a power packed video campaign titled #BeMoreHuman featuring Bollywood actress Kangana Ranuat in a never seen before fitness freak avatar.
Speaking about the new campaign, Dave Thomas, MD, Adidas& Reebok India said, “This inspiring campaign helps to cement Reebok as the leading fitness brand in the women’s category and we are delighted to partner with Kangana Ranaut, who is not just a Bollywood superstar but an achiever in every sense of the word.”
Conceptualised by McCann Erickson India, this #FitToFight campaign is a tribute to the modern day Indian woman, which urges women to become better versions of themselves, not just physically but also mentally and socially.
Battle on Women’s Day
This International Women’s Day many brands came up with their content on various digital platforms to attract masses. Campaigns such as #ShareTheLoad, #KohinoorWomensDayEveryDay and Reebok’s #FitToFight, etc were popular across the social media platforms. Apart from these, Craftsvilla rolled out #CelebratingYou, while Horlicks urges #StrongToTheBone.
Within a day, Reebok’s FitToFight video managed to grab 183,711 on YouTube and 259k views on Facebook. The video indeed received the advantage of Women’s Day, as it urges women to go far and be more.
Kangana: fit or misfit?
Gone are the days, when actresses use to endorse only cosmetic products. Nowadays, celebrities such as Bipasha Basu, Shilpa Shetty and Sunny Leone have launched their fitness DVDs to inspire women to be fit.
“Being as rebellious as she is, Kangana has broken all stereotypes and has never been overwhelmed with the many challenges that have been thrown at her. We salute her spirit and the spirit of all women who have faced obstacles and continue to challenge themselves daily in search of greater rewards. Digital activation #FitToFight is at the centre of this campaign we are confident that consumers will relate to this strongly. We are certain that Kangana’s powerful personal story and fitness journey will inspire many women and men – to embark on their own fitness journey and become better version of themselves”, added Thomas.
In this new campaign, Ranaut will be seen challenging herself with various fitness activities including functional training, dance, yoga, kick-boxing and others, thereby communicating the overarching brand message – ‘how fit you are defines how far you go’. ‘Go far. Be more human.’
However, Upendra Thakur, Origin Beanstalk feels disconnect with a style diva like Kangana exercising at a run-down rustic/abandoned looking place.
Commenting on the Ad film, Thakur said, “Looked very unnatural and made up…. Unlike the energetic and highly inspirational international commercials of Reebok for the #BeMoreHuman campaign, this film is weak on the storyline and poorly scripted. A strong narrative with a more aggressive personality than that of Kangana would have worked better in my opinion.”
While on the other side, Charulata Ravikumar, CEO, Razorfish India believes that the New Reebok TVC with Kangana Ranaut is a smart attempt indeed from a brand that seemed to succumb to Rs 870 Crore financial fraud and near death experience it faced.
“An interesting reflective through Kangana’s own story of determination, focus and spirit of fighting back to make the viewer associate these values once again with Reebok and hoping to supersede the damage done. This campaign needs to be seen through the entirety of what the brand is attempting to do online and offline. Women sure are increasingly shifting focus from solely their family to also themselves. But it still remains a desire for many who need a good nudge to adopt a healthy lifestyle,” commented RaviKumar.
Bollywood divas & ad films
The concept of bringing inspirational women centric ad films is not new. It has become a trend now to feature award winning actresses in such ad film
Two month ago, Culture Machine brought Printing Machine featuring Kalki Koechlin, where she narrated a poem which she wrote for the series talks about the violence and brutality that women face in India.
Likewise, last year Deepika Padukone was featured in Vogue’s My Choice video, which received mixed reviews and ever since the video went viral, both the actress and the video have been a topic of debate and many spoofs were made in response to it. Similarly, Parineeti Chopra also donned a fitness avatar in a photo-shoot and grabbed million eyeballs across the country.
Ravi Kumar further mentioned that focusing its attention on women through the communication and also supporting it with flagship stores that have a wide range of fashion-fitnesswear, Reebok is reclaiming its ground.
“A good launch on Woman’s Day activating others to nominate women who they see as …. Wait a minute. I am a little confused now… Women who are #FitToFight or #BeMoreHuman? Or did you say you have to be more human to be fit to fight or be fit to fight to be more human? And just when I thought they had a great film there… Never mind. Sometimes it’s good to watch a film for its great camerawork, great acting, and motivating words. And it’s nice to have a choice whether you want to be Fit to Fight or Be More Human (Being Human not enough anymore). Seems like two copywriters settled on their ego battle by using two contradictory hashtags,” concluded Ravi Kumar.
