Grooming Products for men. How did it ever come to this?

Before expressing disbelief on the very existence of such an industry, it’s important to note the existence of the demand for such an industry. The average male today spends a long time in front of the mirror, is very conscious about his looks and his hygiene and goes to great lengths to take care of himself.

Although in most probability, if left to himself throughout evolution, men would’ve preferred the cave man look to remain in style.  As responsibilities evolved from hunting and making fire, to picking up women and listening to them, so did grooming. Unfortunately, man had never whole-heartedly given into the grooming business, usually just picking up the first shampoo, conditioner, moisturizer, shaving cream, etc., they saw on the shelf, just to fulfill the basic grooming requirements now expected of him. And therein layeth the problem. 99% of products were made for women, and not really suitable for men. He had no clue about this. There’s so many different types of skin, hair and body parts that no one product can serve all types. He had no clue about this. Also, a lot of products for men went beyond just grooming. He had no clue about this.

Enter exclusive grooming stores for men carrying exclusive grooming products made for men. Men and boyS is one such initiative.

These panels placed in UB City, Bangalore, tried educating men about the need for exclusive grooming products, while at the same time made the whole thing look a bit manly.

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If you lived in India or any other pro-honking nation, you’d agree that honking deserves its own behavioural psychoanalytic study in humans. In this complex field, a lot of questions still remain unanswered.

1. As soon as the light turns green, why do all the vehicles behind the first row start honking?

2. Why do some people think honking all the way from Point A to Point B help them reach faster? Should Obsessive Honking Disorder be made a medical condition?

3. Which company makes those loud fancy horns that scare the hell out of pedestrians? And is “Catcher in the Rye” the favourite book of everyone who buys those horns?

These and several such questions gave rise to an organization called ‘Mission Peace’, who also aim to reduce other sources of noise such as faulty silencers, cars with hip-hop concert stereo systems, construction during the night, etc. The Karnataka Police and the Bangalore Traffic Police extended their support and allowed us to start things off by launching a ‘No Honking Day’ on the 10th of every month. These were the first of a long line of creatives to come in this mission.

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For something as serious and rampant as Human Trafficking in India, we know a few ads are not going to help bring about change or even awareness. But there are people, such as Sunitha Krishnan of Prajwala, who are bringing about change and awareness on a larger level. People with extraordinary courage and compassion, who have dedicated their lives to a continuous struggle. For these people, a few ads might just help bring in the support of a few more people.

Prajwala works actively to rescue, rehabilitate and reintegrate victims of Human Trafficking, and also on a larger level, to prevent it.

These posters were placed in railway stations, taxi stands, truck stops, etc.  - areas where offenders were most likely to frequent.

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A permanent billboard in front of  Sankara Eye Hospital, saw the importance of sight propagated through current events. Interestingly, most of them had to be taken down after a few “I can’t understand it, but looks like a good reason to pick a fight” types expressed their great concerns.

So now, we’ve been directed to stay away from politics and religion. Watch this space for more in the series.

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Click here to see this campaign on www.adsoftheworld.com