Beyond Ads: Piyush Pandey's Campaigns Battled Investor Fraud, Polio, And Domestic Violence
Beyond his commercial success, Piyush Pandey also contributed to public life through key awareness campaigns. This includes key investor education initiatives for the SEBI.
India lost one of its most prominent voices in the advertising space, Piyush Pandey, on Friday; though only a few knew that his interests and skills expounded beyond being the mastermind of some of the most iconic advertisements produced in the sub-continent.
Apart from his commercial interests, Pandey contributed to public life, as he was also part of key awareness campaigns.
This includes the campaigns — aimed at investor awareness — released under the SEBI's 'Har Investor Ki Taakat' series in 2017. The campaign was created by Ogilvy & Mather, at the time when Pandey was leading the agency.
The campaigns were meant to enlighten and empower investors regarding the questions they had and guide them to an efficient redressal platform called 'Scores'. It encouraged them to file their complaints online at www.scores.gov.in.
One of the most-renowned SEBI campaigns, to which Pandey was linked, is the "Mr Kumar" series released in 2012. It emphasised out how investors, due to lack of caution, end up being defrauded.
The ad begins with one man boasting to his friend about how he can invest Rs 10,000 and receive double the amount within a month. To bring his point home, the man gives an example of 'Mr. Kumar' who apparently earned all the luxuries in the world after he made the same investment.
Kumar's story spreads like wildfire in the city, with many citing him as an example to their family members, acquaintances and friends. In the end, the punchline hits one harder than an upper-cut when a woman asks her husband who this 'Mr. Kumar' is, and her husband finds himself falling short of words as he does not know who this person is.
The campaign delves into the dangers of believing in hearsay and tall claims of big returns on investments instead of doing first-hand research. It encourages investors to park their money into any schemes only after thorough research.
He also spearheaded public service campaigns like the 'Do Boond Zindagi Ke' Polio Abhiyaan with ads featuring megastars like Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and others.
Pandey was also involved in the anti-smoking campaign of Cancer Patients Aid Association, along with the Bell Bajao (Ring the Bell) campaign of human rights organisation Breakthrough, which was aimed at preventing domestic violence.
