Rapp UK has tied up with the popular Masala Podcast to turn under-discussed cultural taboos within the South Asian community on their head to mark South Asian Heritage Month.
Entitled ‘The Campaign We’re Not Supposed to Talk About’, it features a set of attention-grabbing out-of-home posters situated in postcodes where there is a substantial South Asian community.
Also running on social media, the South Asian Heritage Month messaging puts a spin on slurs that are used against South Asian women, turning ‘besharam’ – which means ‘shameless woman’ – into ‘woman brave enough to live her own life’. At the same time, ‘chee chee’ – which means dirty – is re-defined as ‘a woman who isn’t afraid to love herself’.
Rapp UK chief creative officer Al Mackie said: “As an agency, we passionately believe in the power of Masala Podcast to change the lives of so many people. Sangeeta and her team are doing amazing work and we were all inspired to do this justice with a stand-out and boundary-breaking campaign.”
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Masala podcast founder Sangeeta Pillai added: “South Asian women are one the UK’s most marginalised groups. Despite 2.75 million of us living in this country, we have barely any media representation”.
“That’s why Masala Podcast (featuring the voices and experiences of South Asian women) is incredibly important, serving as a safe space for us to tackle cultural taboos: from sex, sexuality, periods, mental health, menopause and more,” she continued.
She added: “It’s been such a blessing to work alongside Rapp UK, and to have the opportunity to include some of our brilliant listeners who modelled for the OOH ads alongside issues relevant to them personally.”
“We wanted the campaign to be as authentic as possible in portraying the experiences of South Asian women in the UK today, and I believe that we have done just that.”
The Masala Podcast has featured some of the world’s best-known South Asian women including Anoushka Shankar, TV presenter Anita Rani, British comedian Shazia Mirza, and of course reflection from Sangheeta Pillai.