The Nominate Me Selfie | Political Shakti & The Times of India
The Nominate Me Selfie’ for Political Shakti & The Times of India is a powerful reminder of the concept of gender representation at the top.
50% of our population are women, but only a fraction of parliamentarians are represented by this gender, leaving half of the electorate without or with very little voice. The campaign is an urgent cry to bridge the political gender gap and bring about adequate representation in policy making and the power circles.
In India, women make up half the grassroots political workers but are highly underrepresented in male-dominated state parliaments. Therefore, critical issues for families and women like education, safety, sanitation, and property rights are systemically overlooked. Shakti, a non-partisan NGO fighting for gender equality in politics, and Times of India, India’s leading daily, partnered to launch a campaign that made turning a blind eye toward women’s representation impossible. It started in Bihar (population equivalent to Mexico), India’s poorest, most illiterate state.
Brand took an accessible, universal phenomenon –the selfie– and turned it into a nomination resume, citing every woman’s credentials and accomplishments. They teamed up with 140 NGOs that reached 45000 villages to mobilize female party workers to use the ubiquitous WhatsApp to send their “Nominate-me-selfies” to their local party leaders, urging them for a ticket to contest elections. As hundreds of selfies started to pour in, women’s representation was amplified into a national issue that made front pages, garnering panel discussions and widespread coverage. Fielded candidates across political parties went up, resulting in elected women legislative going up by 25%, the highest ever. When rolled out in Bengal (state population equivalent to Vietnam), the campaign resulted in the ruling party giving an unprecedented 45% of its tickets to women. This campaign-turned-movement is creating a pipeline of women leaders, paving the path to a true democracy, one state election at a time.
Credits
Agency: FCB India LLP Advertising Ltd / Delhi + FCB / Chicago + The Times Of India / Delhi + Shakti / Bangalore
Client: Political Shakti + The Times Of India
