Hum Fit Toh India Fit
The IPL final at Wankhede stadium last Sunday may itself have lacked fizz and nail-biting excitement, despite Shane Watson’s gritty century, but the highlight on television was surely a carefully crafted 120-seconds long #HumFitTohIndiaFit commercial with a voice-over by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi interspersed with footage of him as well as famous celebrities — politicians, sportspersons and Bollywood stars — promoting a fitter, healthier India. The commercial which ran at least 10 times during the match must have been a last minute super bonanza for the broadcaster, Star TV, bringing in at least Rs 25 crore of unexpected revenues.
The entire #HumFitTohIndiaFit campaign was ignited by the Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore who posted a video of himself on social media, doing push-ups in his office. He urged his followers on Twitter to post pictures and videos of them engaged in activities to keep themselves fit. Through the video he also put out a #FitnessChallenge to Hrithik Roshan, Virat Kohli and Saina Nehwal. And, in true Indian political tradition, Rathore thanked Prime Minister Modi for inspiring him to stay fit.
Virat Kohli was the first to respond to the Minister’s challenge. Others followed. In the new #HumFitTohIndiaFit commercial, you get to see stills/short clips of Saina Nehwal, Jayant Sinha, Kidambi Shrikanth, Ajinkya Rahane, Kiren Rijiju, Anushka Sharma, KL Rahul, Dr Harsh Vardhan, Suyash Jadhav, Babita Phogat, Madhur Bhandarkar, Deepika Padukone, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Shilpa Shetty, Geeta Phogat, Abhinav Bindra, Akshay Kumar, PV Sindhu, Ranvir Shorey, Rakul Preet Singh, Manoj Kumar, Saumya Tandon, Naga Chaitanya Akkinen, Manoj Tiwari, Manasi Joshi, Mithali Raj, Joshna Chinappa, Rohan Bopanna, Tiger Shroff, Hrithik Roshan and of course, Minister Rathore, Captain Kohli and Prime Minister Modi. The celebrity line-up in the commercial surely beats all previous self-salutary and self-laudatory ‘nation-building’ ads like Mile Sur Mera Tumhara and Maa Tujhe Salaam. The commercial, for one, has set a precedent by featuring politicians alongside sports and film stars, something never done before. Also, the use of the PM’s voice-over must be a first for sure. I haven’t at least witnessed anything close to this ever before in my three decades in advertising.
In the #HumFitTohIndianFit videos that are currently individually running on YouTube, there is already controversy and cheer. Hrithik Roshan who rides a cycle on crowded roads to keep fit drew major flak for not wearing a helmet. Shobhaa De praised Deepika Padukone for her ‘cute bum’ as the actress is shown running in Central Park, NY. Tiger Shroff is amazing with a face-front side flip. Akshay rotates wooden beads rhythmically around his waist. The slightly over-weight Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan actually huffs-and-puffs his way through a long and somewhat torturous exercise regime and it clearly shows he is not a regular! Prime Minister Modi is himself shown solemnly performing yoga asanas.
The ad on IPL for #HumFitTohIndiaFit was obviously patched together in a hurry. But it meets multiple communication objectives. It obviously is a clever curtain-raiser for the 2019 elections. The visible soft-sell surely has a hard political agenda that cannot be missed. What one is not sure about is whether all the celebrities featured in the ad actually actively endorse the political agenda behind the FitIndia communication. I think most of them have willy-nilly got dragged into a communication that was meant for much loftier objectives, but is actually a build-up for Prime Minister Modi’s re-election next year, showing him as fit, active and pro-active.
Frankly, I have no quarrel with that as long as the fitness agenda itself is not lost focus on. But sadly, except being a unified platform for multiple celebrities, the #HumFitTohIndiaFit ad has nothing to recommend it. The use of the Indian flag is blatant. The cut to the final footage of the Prime Minister doing yoga is blatant too. State propaganda, nothing less.
Honestly, I don’t think even Minister Rathore knew how big his idea was going to bloom into. The challenge was just fun till, I think, PM Modi got involved. Then, as with everything to do with Mr Modi, it has taken on a size and life of its own!
(Sandeep Goyal is an advertising veteran. He has worked at leading ad agencies like JWT, Grey, DDB, Rediffusion and Dentsu for over 30 yrs)