ACKO General Insurance urges parents to accept queer community, and not just support it in a new spot 

“It’s all good to support a cause, but God forbid if one of our own is a part of it…” Most Indian homes preach some version of this saying. But when one of our own is a part of a cause and needs our support, we often fail to lend a supportive hand.

ACKO General Insurance illustrates this saying in an 83-second spot. The brainchild of Leo Burnett Orchard, we see four friends at a get-together in the ad. One of them shows off his updated social media handle that now resembles the Pride colours; a sign of his support for the LGBTQ+ community.

His friends are pleased because they assume that he’s learnt of his son’s sexuality; he hasn’t, and his face and faltering emotions are enough to tell us the father’s support for the queer community was but superficial.

The film is based on a Pride research conducted by ACKO and YouGov this month (June 2021). It found that only two out of every five Indian parents said that they would be supportive if their child was part of the LGBTQ+ community.

Ashish Mishra, executive vice president - marketing, ACKO General Insurance, said, “From denial to recognition, Indian society has come a long way in terms of its attitude towards the LGBTQ+ (Pride) community. However, there is still a huge amount of work to be done to make sure that people are willing to accept if one of their own is part of this community. #TalkPride campaign is our way to progress on this front.”

“We are so used to sharing our support for the LGBTQ+ community on social media. But we never take a moment to stop and think how open we will be to having someone in the family who identifies as the same. I think it is time for the country as a whole to take a step towards accepting that love is love, no matter how you choose to express it,” added Pravin Sutar, head of creative, Leo Burnett Orchard.