Indiantelevision.com Team

(22 May 2007 8:15 pm)

MUMBAI: SaharaOne's new reality TV show Biggest Loser Jeetega, which aired its first episode last Friday, has been grabbing eyeballs with its outdoor publicity campaigns.

The show currently has a TVC on-air, directed by Saket Chaudhary of Pyar Ke Side Effects fame. It depicts obese people from different backgrounds beating all the odds and running hard, with a community of people cheering for them.

Agrees SaharaOne's head of marketing Rajeev Chakrabarti, "The marketing activity had to stand out creatively from the rest. The motive was to not to interfere with the viewer, but to involve him in as many touch-points possible."

Mumbai's famous dabbawalas stringed their dabbas with the message 'Control Karna Yaar', coupled with the show's logo and airing time.

Multiplexes and food courts were made use of for ambient marketing weaved around the concept of health and fitness. Inox has a huge popcorn barrel with a message: 'Biggest Loser has stopped eating it. Its time for you to have some.' Ruby Tuesday, the popular hangout joint also has card table-tops labelled 'Jug Today Jog Tomorrow', against the backdrop of a beer jug. For foodies, table tops with the message, 'I will jog tomorrow' have been set-up.

Best bus panels indicate a row of potbellied people sitting, with the closer, 'Thoda chal le, kuch kilo kam karle'. The radio spot gives the listener an option to lose weight by inane ways or else watch the show instead.

Field events called the 'Big Feast' were recently held across several major cities in the country to select people through fun-activities to be a part of the show.

Does the show have enough to sustain the interest generated? Chakrabarti says that the motive of the show is to create a health revolution, in an entertaining manner. "The show would prove motivational due to two factors; Sunil Shetty, who's a health icon and the fact that one would see obese people come out in the open and shred kilos in a scientific way," he says.