Bail Kolhu kicks off humorous social media campaign

Bail Kolhu, the flagship brand of BL Agro, has launched a new social media campaign, an extension of the #RasodeMeinMardHai initiative which forges ahead of awareness and conversation, creating real change around men working in the kitchen. The concept “ab kitchen mein badh rahi hai mardo ki bhaagedaari” has been illustrated through 5 digital films.

Bail Kolhu launched RasodeMeinMardHai TVCs in March 2022, starring actors Pankaj Tripathi, Manoj Bajpayee, and Nawazuddin Siddiqui. The campaign redefined the pressing concern that women are the only "cooks" of the house with three commercials. The TVCs depicting men cooking with aprons on sparked a revolution. Conversations about the need for men to shoulder kitchen responsibilities began to rage on social media.

“The way kitchen duties and roles are perceived were metamorphosed with the introduction of the Rasode Mein Mard Hai campaign. We knew it had caused a paradigm shift in the subconscious of people of all ages and genders. Men were finally noticing the oft-ignored normative issue and inching their way into the kitchen. Women were applauding both the initiative to redefine how most Indian households regarded cooking and men trying to adapt themselves,” explains Ghanshyam Khandelwal, Chairman, BL Agro. “But that was half the battle won. We had to do more.”

Talking about the initial brief by the brand to the agency and the message they wanted to convey, Sanjay Srivastava, CEO, at Leads BrandConnect, said: “The brand has achieved a cult position, people are very loyal to the product. Around a year back, we had a discussion with the brand where they said that they do not want to have a regular campaign instead they want the brand to be portrayed as a responsible brand. So this is how we thought of coming up with a social agenda where we can talk about the issue - why not men contribute in the kitchen?”

Building upon the legacy the TVCs created, the brand decided to press on and give #RasodeMeinMardHai a new avatar with the latest campaign comprising of 5 films. Each depicts a typical day in the life of a man – a day that includes casually talking about cooking. They portray different scenarios where the male characters discuss the best oil to cook a dish in between the usual work conversations. The campaign has an ingenuous humorous spin and organic product integration.

"It’s Rasode Mein Mard Hai 2.0 if you will," says Richa Khandelwal, Managing Director of Leads Brand Connect. "The first version of the campaign put our hearts in the right place and got our minds ready to accept that men cooking is not something out of the realm of imagination. And it was welcomed with open arms by all. It became evident that we needed to advocate for and work towards more change. So, we launched an extension of the campaign. This time we’re normalising the fact that men too can discuss food, cooking, and kitchen chores during their day as comfortably and regularly as women do."

(Inputs from Tanzila Shaikh)