9XM asks #whoistheidiot?

The election wave is all over! On one hand, politicians of various political parties are campaigning across the country, while on the other the television channels and brands are doing their "bit" to contribute to the noise and ask people to vote.

9X Media's Bollywood music channel 9XM has embarked to do its bit to create awareness amongst the youth (its core target audience) about the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections, the candidates contesting in the elections and the importance of each vote. It appeals to people to exercise their right to vote and choose the right people to lead the country.

In association with Artist Aloud, rapper Blaaze and Paul J, the channel has launched a music video that features 9XM's popular animation characters, Bade and Chhote. The video, shot as an annual day skit, showcases Blaaze and Paul J as school principal and vice-principal to kids dressed as politicians. The children are shown putting up a show for a classroom full of blindfolded citizens.

The video reflects the state of things when people don't vote and implores people to wake up, vote and not be an idiot. In order to make it interesting and engaging, the video is shot with kids playing politicians like Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, Mamta Banerjee, Rahul Gandhi, Mayawati, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Narendra Modi and Baba Ramdev, and their supporters.

The rap of the video says, 'Look at the people, Look at yourself. Why do we want to be somebody else. Look at the wrong and look at the right. You and I can unite. Take a stand and come look around, don't let the nation fall to the ground. Pick it up and let's move, you know what you gotta do!'

When asked if the campaign will be diluted amongst several others carrying the same message, Vibha Gosher, SVP, digital, 9X Media, says, "The agenda is not to shout louder. It's our bit to ask our viewers to go out and vote. The videos also intend to spread awareness about who are standing in the elections, giving people a chance to think and vote. We are targeting youth, our primary TG, through the ad."

Besides the one main video, the channel has launched eight short videos. The videos go back in time to capture how the present-day political personalities could have been in their childhood. The series of eight promos dish up as teasers for #WhoIsTheIdiot song in the voice of Blaaze. "A Class apart" videos are snippets from the lives of extraordinary students who became present day's prominent political figures. The intention is not to portray any individual as an idiot but to ask how much people know about their political leaders.

The first video titled 'Eraser' shows lookalikes of Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal, Baba Ramdev and Sharad Pawar in a classroom, doing their work. While the others use erasers to erase what they have written, Kejriwal's lookalike pulls out a 'jharu' (broom, symbol of his political party - Aam Aadmi Party) to do the same. The second one titled 'Recess' shows the Hazare lookalike on a hunger strike when the other kids (Pawar, Kejriwal, Ramdev) are having their lunch during recess. They offer Hazare their food to eat, asking him to end his fast.

The third short film, 'Children's Day', shows lookalikes of Yadav, Mayawati, Rahul Gandhi and Manmohan Singh holding a rose, while Modi's lookalike holds a lotus (symbol of his political party, BJP). The fourth one, 'Punishment', shows kids as Kejriwal, Hazare and Ramdev standing out of their classroom because they have been punished. While three of them put their hands up, 'Ramdev' is seen standing on one leg doing a yoga asana.

The fifth film, 'MMS Kaand In School', shows a Manmohan Singh lookalike disturbing his classmates when the teacher catches him and asks him to write 'I will not talk' on the blackboard'. He goes on to write 'I will not talk ever'. The sixth one, 'GK Test', shows a lookalike of Rahul Gandhi who when asked, 'who landed on the moon first?', writes 'Mummy'.

The seventh short film, 'Pocket Money', shows four kids sitting in a classroom. When the other three including Kejriwal and Hazare lookalikes, show how much they get as pocket money, the one posing as Pawar pulls out a briefcase full of notes. The last one, 'Play Time', shows kids playing with their small toys, when a Mayawati lookalike comes with a toy elephant, and kicks the other toys.

The videos are being promoted extensively across digital platforms. They are spread across popular digital hangouts like Facebook, Twitter (#whoistheidiot) YouTube, Google+, Whatsapp, BBM, WeChat, Pinterest, Instagram and Vine. The song of the main video is also available as CRBT through a few telecom partners.

While the short videos are running on 9XM, they will break soon on its sister channels too.

Adding about the performance of the campaign, Gosher says, "It's been just one day and we have been getting great response in terms of interaction and discussion. The topic itself is catchy and will interest many of us. Despite being a commonly used phrase, 9XM's Who Is the Idiot initiative is picking up. Search for the phrase stands at No.2 on Google Search."

For the record, launched in 2007, 9XM is the music channel offering of 9X Media, which also offers 9X Tashan (Punjabi music channel), 9X Jhakaas (Marathi music channel), 9X Jalwa (Hindi music channel) and 9XO (international music channel). 9XM airs the latest Bollywood songs interspersed with jokes and anecdotes by its animated characters such as Bade and Chhote, Bheegi Billi, Badshah Bhai and The Betel Nuts.