Elections 2009: Congress gets its war cry in ‘Jai Ho’, thanks to Percept
The political wars have begun, and Congress party is riding the ‘Slumdog’ wave, roping in the Oscar winner ‘Jai Ho’ for its communication. Percept India, which has conceptualised and executed this for the Congress, has also gone a step ahead and has attempted to ensure that other political parties do not take the ‘Jai Ho’ ride.
With the election dates being declared, it is time for cut throat competition for political parties. Political advertising had in any case donned a new avatar in the year, where parties and corporates had taken various routes to connect with the voters and encouraged people to come out and vote. Now, various political parties are gearing up for the big battle ahead.
In a coup of sorts, the Congress party has got the Oscar-winning track ‘Jai Ho’ from ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ on its side. The idea was conceptualised and executed by Percept India. Even as Congress and Percept officials were not available for comments at the time of filing the report, a source familiar with the situation explained, “Percept is the Government of India agency at present. And you would see another campaign coming soon from Congress’ agencies JWT and Crayons too.”
Another highly placed source elaborating on the ‘Jai Ho’ deal for Congress said, “Percept bought the intellectual property (IP) of the ‘Jai Ho’ track from T-Series and suggested this to the Congress. The Congress approved of the idea and the deal took off. Percept also blocked other parties from using this song in any way by sending legal communication to various channels, informing that they have the IP for this song and that other parties could not use it.” exchange4media could not independently confirm this.
‘Jai Ho’ has gained immense popularity throughout India due to ‘Slumdog Millionaire’s international success. AR Rahman and Gulzar winning the Oscar for Best Song for ‘Jai Ho’ further led to the song attaining a cult status.
