Rediffusion-DY&R Brand Communications has secured nine finalist entries at the London International Awards. Of these nine, four campaigns have been nominated in the social campaign category. While two films made for Maruti Udyog Ltd urge viewers to obey traffic rules, the film made for a Mumbai-based non-governmental organisation focusses on the gruesome aspects of child prostitution. Another film, Flower Child, is from the Novartis campaign.

The campaign on child prostitution issued in public interest is a sensitive portrayal of a real-life story picked up from police files. The advertising campaign deals with Tulsa Thapa and her life. This Nepalese girl was abductedfrom her home at the tender age of 11 and brought to Mumbai's Kamathipura area to be forced into prostitution. After over two years of torture, Tulsa was rescued by the authorities. She was then found to be suffering from syphilis, gonorrhea and tuberculosis. Tulsa was sent to the Cheshire Home in Kathmandu, where she stays now, crippled by disease and premature ageing.

Made by the trio, Adrian Mendonza, Parag Tembulkar and Mangesh Rane, this film is very stark. It reads like Tulsa's bio-data where her present occupation is a wheelchair on which she sits in isolation. In the end, the film asks viewers for help: ``Give child prostitutes a future.''

The advertising agency is at present putting into place a sequel to the film, which is proposed to be released shortly. ``This campaign was initiated by Rediffusion almost two years ago, when we decided to do our little bit for society. While we made the film in-house and charged no money, we were fortunate to have Mumbai daily Afternoon Courier & Dispatchersponsor the campaign for us, which is how the whole thing was put into place,'' states Mendonza.

This year, the advertising agency proposes to take up more such issues and commercials. On their part, large corporate houses have already decided to come together with the agency in support of such causes.

The Novartis campaign is an off-beat one, something the pharmaceutical company has never tried before. ``At first, we were wary of the agency's suggestion to go ahead with such a campaign as we had never experimented with something like this before,'' states a Novartis official, who did not wish his name to be revealed. (Novartis normally takes recourse to airing its international commercials all over the world).

One of the first of its kinds, Flower Child tries to establish Novartis, so far known as an agrochemical company, as the maker of critical life saving drugs. The Flower Child television commercial opens with a flower in the forefront and a child coughing in the background. As the coughing getsworse, the petals start falling off till finally only one petal of the flower remains. This opens up to become the face of a little girl and the voice-over states. ``One company which is finding new cures for tuberculosis.'' This film is one of a set of three campaigns; the other two deal with epilepsy and heart disease.

``Social advertising was basically started as a campaign by the famous Mera Bharat Mahaan advertisement films,'' states Rediffusion India president Sandeep Goyal.

The agency is also actively assisting the Mumbai Police and now the Punjab Police with its advertising. These commercials deal with traffic signals safe driving, road signs, safety at home, neighbourhood watch schemes and highway safety.

Television channels, ranging from the domestic ones like Zee and Sony to STAR and Discovery (a practice initiated by Doordarshan), are airing these commercials free of cost.

Thus, while it could be a clear corporate ideology or an advertising agency suggestion, what is clear is thatthe social aspects of life are becoming big issues with companies, and they are interested in making the world a better place in their own little way.