WhatsApp first TV campaign in India asks everyone to Share Joy, Not Rumors!

India has more than 200 million active users on WhatsApp on a monthly basis. That’s huge! And yet we haven’t seen even one TVC from WhatsApp in India until now! Share Joy, Not Rumors is a brand first ever TVC and it is all about staying away from rumors that can fan the flames of racial hatred, community prejudice, bestowing trust on phony dealers or money-lenders and so on. We think it’s a smart step from WhatsApp in an era where misinformation (especially via social media and the internet) is a regular thing and rumors roam around like wildfire.

The agency behind this is Mumbai’s Taproot Dentsu and the filmmaker Shirsha Guha Thakurta. There are 3 sixty-second films. And all show different real-time scenarios where rumors are spreading via WhatsApp and it needs to stop. One can use WhatsApp features like blocking the spammers who send such fake news and also exit groups that encourage misinformation for no reason.

We think that WhatsApp is no more just an app but has become an everyday integral part of many people’s lives. It means it has the ability to influence one’s thinking and thinking can lead to action. And nothing influences or instigates acts of violence and fraudulence like rumors. So this TVC rightly informs everyone to stop falling prey to such scams and spams and avoid spreading them for good.