Star Sports and Meta's WhatsApp spotlight athlete privacy with 'Privacy Unplugged'

Star Sports, India's premier sports broadcaster, has introduced a thought-provoking social-first collaboration with WhatsApp, titled "Privacy Unplugged." This engaging five-part short-form content series, facilitated by Starcom, underscores the paramount significance of privacy features in today's digital landscape. The exclusive property presents poignant and personal narratives of beloved sporting champions, intricately woven around the central theme of privacy.

The lineup includes prominent cricket stars Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer, rising cricket talent Jemimah Rodrigues, hockey icon Rani Rampal, and accomplished footballer Gurpreet Singh Sandhu. Each athlete's unique story serves as a powerful catalyst for widespread awareness, emphasising the advanced privacy features introduced by WhatsApp and underscoring the platform's steadfast commitment to user safety and data protection.

Kingshuk Mitra, head – ad sales, Star Sports, expressed his enthusiasm about the collaboration with WhatsApp (Meta): "This marks our third collaboration with Meta, and we're excited to be associating with WhatsApp for the ongoing 'Privacy Unplugged' series. We've brought on board a few highly regarded sports stars to emphasise the importance of privacy in today's interconnected world. Star Sports' extensive reach of 30 million fans across social media platforms enables WhatsApp to effectively spread the campaign's message. This content series also lays the groundwork for potential collaborations with other brands, allowing us to craft compelling stories that deeply connect with our audience."

Natasha Kapoor, strategic media planning lead APAC – Meta, stated, "We're thrilled to associate with Star Sports to highlight the importance of secure and private messaging, through the personal stories of some of India's top athletes. It's a great privilege that millions of Indians trust WhatsApp to deliver their personal messages every day. This series reinforces the role that WhatsApp's multiple privacy features play in enabling our users to stay connected with their loved ones, have meaningful conversations, and even express their authentic selves, privately."

Niti Kumar, chief operating officer, said, "Starcom discovered that India's beloved athletes, respected by millions, hold an exceptional talent for safeguarding the most critical aspects of their lives even as they artfully define their individual understandings of 'privacy.' This insightful discovery enabled Starcom to bring about a strategic partnership between WhatsApp and Star Sports, which aims to unravel the narratives around privacy in the lives of India's premier athletes."

The Privacy Unplugged series spotlights the need for privacy in the lives of athletes. Each story underlines how WhatsApp's built-in layers of privacy help create a safe space for our champions to express themselves freely and have their most private conversations.