A public awareness campaign in India launched to encourage use of condoms as part of efforts to encourage safe sex has won a United Nations award for excellence in campaigns that tackle priority issues.
The campaign, which used the slogan 'Condom Bindaas Bol' (Say Condoms Freely), was created to overturn a decline in condom use and sales in eight states -- Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Bihar and Jharkhand. The eight states comprise 45 per cent of the national condom market.
It used two messages: "condom" is not a delicate word and should be discussed freely. Condoms should be used by everyone, and not just by people in high-risk groups.
Celebrities endorsed the campaign in television while a podcast was issued on the popular YouTube website, editorial meetings were held with 20 publications and broadcast channels to encourage them to carry reports on the issue and a 'viral video' featuring the scenario of a shy customer being encouraged by a retailer to ask for condoms was mass-mailed.
The UN Department of Public Information announced that the campaign had won the UN Grand Award, a feat it sponsors with the International Public Relations Association (IPRA). The award will be presented in London on November 6.
'Condom Bindaas Bol' was created by a public relations company Weber Shandwick and is the result of a joint effort of PSP-One, a US Agency for International Development (USAID) project, the Union Health & Welfare Ministry and ICICI Bank.
The other two campaigns, Singapore's 'Yellow Ribbon Project', promoting the rehabilitation back into society of ex-offenders released from jail, and 'Daddy Send Me To School', launched by the Turkish newspaper Milliyet to improve women's access to education also received special mentions.
