For Tata Tea Jaago Re

Tata Tea's Anthem of apathy

By HT Brand Studio | Feb 14, 2017

A new anthem for a new generation: 'Jaago Re'

Alarm Bajne Se Pehle, Jaago Re

Anyone who has snoozed the alarm one too many times, and then missed a crucial flight, must be familiar with how no amount of pleas, threats, or arguments before the airline staff can reverse your fortunes once the plane has taken off. What's harder still is shaking off that sense of regret for the rest of the day — the one where you wish you'd woken up just 15 minutes earlier.

A powerful new social campaign attempts to give our loud, reactionary, and protest-loving nation the wake-up call it needs.

In the latest chapter of Tata Tea's widely successful #JaagoRe campaign, the brand gives this all-too familiar image of the alarm a powerful and socially relevant twist. Their newest video is a scathing critique of India's current state of affairs; in particular, our tendency to protest, disrupt, and publicly display anger after an incident hits the headlines. Employing the fierce, hard-hitting style of street theatre, an ancient protest art form in itself, the campaign satirizes a nation of snoozers that awakens to reality only once the alarm bells go off, by which time it's often too late to make any real difference.

The video references several recent issues that have led to widespread protests across the country, ranging from farmer suicides and infrastructure failure to repeated incidents of sexual assault and even the non-performance of Indian athletes at international events. While organized activism is an essential part of any democracy, actual social change usually requires a whole lot more than candlelight marches and incendiary messages on social media. And this is exactly the message that the campaign tries to encapsulate — by urging the youth to work towards change every day, through what it terms as 'Pre-Activism'.

Alarm Bajne Se Pehle, Jaago Re

Early to rise
To explain simply, Pre-Activism refers to actively finding solutions for the problems that we face every day as a society, whether they have existed for ages or are threatening to crop up in our immediate future. Instead of forwarding that WhatsApp message with questionable data on global warming— why not read up a little more on the social, political, and environmental roots of this imminent catastrophe and see how you can really help? Rather than wait for the next report of rape in your city, why not work with respective authorities and brainstorm over a more secure safety and law-and-order system that does not fail its women?

Signing up for a protest is an easy and often an inadequate way out, especially if your involvement with the cause is limited to that one march or a series of angry tweets. Be it gender inequality, corruption, global warming, or administrative failures, it is far more essential to create a dialogue for change rather than stage a dharna once the matter has already blown up. Real change takes decades of effort with barely any of the glamour. It requires people who are up and on the job way before crisis strikes. Most importantly, it needs an entire generation of snoozers to start acting today.

Since the past several years, TATA Tea's #JaagoRe initiative has actively raised awareness on social causes by both inspiring and inciting the youth to change the status quo. From urging people to vote to fighting corruption and dispelling preconceived gender myths, the brand has consistently stayed in touch with the times.

Join the conversation today and find out more about how you can help at www.jaagore.com

Tags #JaagoreTata TeaProtestsChangeIndia