Major brands are coming up with hard-hitting commercials talking about the evils of exam pressure and student stress to raise awareness on how it affects the mental health of children because of the pressure added by parents and students.
- India Today Web Desk
- New Delhi
- March 25, 2019
- UPDATED: March 25, 2019 15:40 IST
These hard-hitting commercials raise awareness on exam pressure and student stress, and how it wrecks the mental health of children.
Exam pressure has come to a whole different level in modern times and it is now a leading cause of depression and suicidal tendencies in Indian students. With children reeling under symptoms of anxiety during exam season, different brands and companies are coming up with hard-hitting commercials to get the message across to parents to ease up on the pressure they put on their kids.
The rush for jobs and the growing population passing out from colleges means competition is higher in almost every field. This makes most Indian parents worry for their children’s career in the future and end up putting more pressure on them than they can deal with.
Add to that the sarcasm from teachers, a constant culture of comparison, and a push towards only a handful of career fields whether the child is interested in it or not, all add to the pressure on young minds that can have grave consequences.
With a major shift in the way consumers are thinking now, there is a spike in commercials and ads now with a socially conscious angle. The topic of exam pressure is something that almost every child and youth today has faced.
The standard of 'success' is now slowly but surely changing from just good marks and a good college to something much more wholesome.
The danger of this source of immense stress on such young minds needs to be checked, and there are a few brands who have picked up this topic to bring awareness to the masses, especially parents, on how to tackle exam pressure and take care of their kids’ mental health.
Here are a few commercials on exam pressure which drive the message home on controlling student stress:
1. Mirinda 'Release the Pressure’ campaign (2017)
In February 2017, Mirinda released a powerful campaign conceptualised by BBDO urging everyone to #ReleaseThePressure.
In its short film type commercial, the brand shows teenagers writing open letters to their parents talking about how exam pressure and parental expectation affects them, which the parents read tearfully in a dramatised manner.
With its message of "No more pressurepanti, only pagalpanti", the ad tries to create the awareness that a little break can go a long way in easing exam pressure and stress from the minds of young students.
It opens the platform for kids and parents to enter a dialogue on this grave problem plaguing young minds. It gives children at least one way to reach out to their parents to talk about how badly exam pressure and stress could be affecting them.
2. Mirinda 'Release the Pressure’ campaign on comparison (2018)
In January 2018, Mirinda took out its second editing of the 'Release the Pressure' campaign which focused on the issue of peer-comparison between different students, usually by parents or teachers, which can reduce the self-esteem in students leading to poor mental health.
This short film type commercial was also conceptualised by BBDO and shot by Shoojit Sircar like the last one.
3. Extramarks’ #FundaClearHai campaign (2018)
The 'Funda Clear Hai' campaign by Extramarks talks about how exams and studies can be a lot easier if students try to understand the "funda" or the concept behind the various topics in their syllabus rather than try to mug up everything.
The campaign conceptualised by ADK-Fortune shows how Extramarks has been trying to disrupt this kind of learning practices with something more visual and engaging with the help of their learning app.
4. Horlicks' #FearlessKota campaign (2019)
This campaign by Horlicks early this year focused on the rising trend of student suicides in Kota, the hub of IIT coaching centres, and how emotional nutrition could keep the minds of children healthy.
Many students in India are enrolled in these coaching centres at Kota which replace regular schools. The focus here is one: cracking IIT JEE and getting admitted into one of the prestigious IITs in India.
However, the routine followed at these coaching centres is harmful to the minds of teenagers. It gives little space for an individual student to pursue their preferred line of career and creates an environment wherein they feel so trapped and for so long, that it leads to depression, and often to student suicide.
The short film type commercial was conceptualised by FCBUlka. It allows parents to share with their kids a bottle of love an empty bottle filled with things parents want to send or tell their children.
It features mothers visiting their kids in Kota and it doesn’t use actors. Most of these mothers were actually visiting Kota for the first time. It also shows real-life bytes of children who are preparing for IIT while staying away from home.
5. Bournvita’s 'The Exam Collection' (2019)
The idea behind this commercial was to show parents the importance of letting children choose their own career.
Too many youngsters now are stuck in jobs they didn’t even want just to make their parents happy, and after a couple of years, they struggle to move to an industry they are actually interested in. This is a tough change and most often remains a distant dream all through their lives leading to added stress, and even depression.
The ad shows adults walking into a shopping mall and encountering only black t-shirts in XL size for sale. Stuck without choice, everyone gets annoyed and calls for the manager.
In every case depicted, the manager is a young kid who makes the adult realise the importance of choice even in something like clothes, and how they feel when that option of a choice is taken away from them.
Every single child doesn’t need to grow up to be a doctor or always be the class topper, the kids say in the commercial. Conceptualised by Ogilvy Mumbai, the ad inspires parents to look beyond marks’ and allow their children the choice of their own future.
6. Godrej Interio Mattresses talk about sleep deprivation (2019)
Over 84 percent of children and teenagers in India are sleep deprived and the long term effects of consistently getting less sleep can wreck havoc on the mind and body.
Sleeplessness is aggravated right before and during exams but it shouldn’t be taken lightly as children require more sleep than adults do.
The TV commercial conceptualised by Creativeland Asia shows the story of one kid who is an all-rounder because he gets 10 hours of sleep every night.
The commercial shows the statistics on sleep deprivation in Indian kids and teens along with its possible effects in the future.
Such inspiring commercials for TV or the digital space are raising awareness on the harmful effects of exam pressure and student stress and helping to get the message across to parents and teachers.
