A Cheerleader's Story - Vivo IPL TVC
The Indian Premier league (IPL) is one of the world's biggest cricketing leagues. Vivo Mobiles was a title sponsor to IPL 2017 and wanted to do communication in the context of the league.
Indian advertising around the IPL either focusses on male cricketers or on male fans. I felt like there had to be some voices we were missing.
One such unheard story was the story of Cheerleaders. These Cheerleaders, mostly of foreign origin, fly every year to India to perform. Hours of practice, fitness and skill goes into their work. Despite this, they are only seen as eye-candy. In addition to this, India’s obsession with white women often makes them the uncomfortable victims of male gaze.
It was a story that needed to be told. And today a selfie has become exactly that, not just a picture, but a story of the self.
Through this film, I wanted to spotlight the toil and talent of these cheerleaders. I wanted to stay true to reality and cast athletic, foreign women to play the Cheerleaders. For the screenplay, the idea was to ensure the focus was always on the grit and sweat - not on titillation.
Through IPL, the story of cheerleaders reached over 300 million people. 88% of this audience was male. The best part was that male conversations online moved from ogling to discussions about the fitness and skill of cheerleaders.
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