Throwback Thursday: How Balbir Pasha got India to talk about AIDS

In 2002, billboards across Mumbai posed a controversial question, "Balbir Pasha Ko AIDS Hoga Kya?" (Will Balbir Pasha get AIDS?), putting many ill at ease.

The initial confusion was followed by a curiosity about the billboards and their ambiguous messaging. Then, it turned into spirited discussions across the city: "Who is Balbir Pasha and why should we care if he gets AIDS?"

For Population Services International (PSI), who commissioned the campaign, the work was already half done, because getting people to talk was a task in itself.

From Pulse Polio to Saakshar Bharat Mission, India has seen many memorable public service campaigns, but none so memorable and impactful as Balbir Pasha. Twenty years ago, the campaign adopted a novel approach to reach its target audience and impact behavioural change. In so doing, it also became entrenched in India's popular culture, a feat few campaigns can brag of. 

On World AIDS Day, we revisit PSI's iconic Balbir Pasha campaign and its impact on the country's AIDS statistics.

The background

Mumbai is a lot of things: a city of endless possibilities, a cultural melting pot and a great equaliser. The city also houses one of India's largest red-light areas -- Kamathipura.

Back in 2002, the port city was the hub of India's growing AIDS epidemic with Kamathipura as its ground zero. India was also home to 3.5 to 4 million HIV-positive people, second only to South Africa.

The biggest roadblocks to dealing with this menace were misconceptions about AIDS and the reluctance of the general public to discuss it.

PSI, which was committed to curbing the menace, received funding from USAID in 2001 to implement AIDS awareness programmes. Thus was born Operation Lighthouse (OPL) in the 12 most vulnerable port cities of India where contraction and transmission of the disease were at their peak.

The challenge for OPL was to reach out to the high-risk population made up of workers, truck drivers, migrant workers, fishermen, labourers and sex workers who lived in these port cities. The ideal campaign would speak to them in a manner they understood.

PSI reached out to Lintas, and under the stewardship of KV Sridhar (Pops), who was the Executive Creative Director there, the Balbir Pasha campaign was conceptualised.

Who is Balbir Pasha?

When the first hoardings came out, everyone wondered who this character with a Hindu first name and a Muslim surname was. Balbir Pasha was, in fact, a character developed for the campaign and a symbol of the average Indian joe.

By highlighting his escapades that could potentially put him at risk of AIDS, Balbir Pasha served as a behavioural model for men living in Mumbai.

The target audience was men between ages 18 and 40, belonging to lower socioeconomic rungs and living in Mumbai, which was the ground zero of the AIDS epidemic back then.

The campaign adopted a media mix of OOH, television, newspapers and radio to personalise HIV risk and to drive more conversations around the deadly disease.

PSI carried out the campaign in five phases, starting with the teaser and culminating with publicising the Saadhan helpline number for HIV/AIDS services.

The billboards and posters for the campaign were eye-catching with bright yellow blurbs against black and white pictures. These burbs featured questions about safe sex practices: "Balbir Pasha sirf Manjula ke paas jaata hain. Par woh har baar condom pehenta hain kya?" (Balbir Pasha only visits Manjula. Does he wear a condom every time?)

TVCs were also in a similar vein, busting myths about sexual safety through conversations between the characters. One ad also featured a little-known Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

The aftermath

There were obvious risks to a campaign this bold. In a best-case scenario, it does what it intended. People get educated and HIV incidences reduce in the country.
Conversely, in the worst-case scenario, the campaign will cause backlash with some sections getting offended.

The campaign was unique in that respect that it accomplished both.

"Balbir Pasha Ko AIDS Hoga Kya?" went down in posterity as among the most impactful pan-Indian campaign for AIDS awareness. Condom usage improved among commercial sex workers, sales of prophylactics increased threefold in red-light areas, and risk perception rose among the target audience.

Trouble mounted for the campaign when the Maharashtra State Commission of Women, the state Ministry of Health, and the Advertising Standards Council of India demanded that the campaign be withdrawn.

A common criticism levelled against the campaign was that it was "anti-woman" due to the implication that unprotected sex with a woman (Manjula) led to HIV/AIDS. Women's groups alleged that the ads branded females as carriers of the disease. A fact that could be misconstrued by the target audience of the ad.

Probably the most vociferous critics of the campaign were women named Manjula who flooded the Saadhan helpline to express their displeasure.

Despite these criticisms, PSI was determined to soldier on and the campaign ran successfully between January 2001 to December 2005. 

In a survey conducted in December 2003 on 1,500 people, a quarter of them recalled the campaign spontaneously, 62% recalled in connection to "HIV/AIDS" and 90% remembered it after mentioning "Balbir Pasha."

The biggest proof of the campaign's success was its percolation into popular culture. Amul, the grand old brand of moment marketing, had a topical dedicated to Balbir Pasha.

BJP MP Kirit Somaiya also tipped his hat to the campaign in some of his ads. Even among the general population, Balbir Pasha had become a buzzword, inspiring many a joke and giggle.

In the end, the campaign accomplished what PSI, OPL, USAID and Lintas intended to do -- create a successful awareness campaign with a positive impact.