MAM
This IPL season, RCB celebrates Covid warriors
NEW DELHI: We are living in a new normal and the idea of heroes in the field has got redefined in the past six months as regular people have transformed themselves into selfless frontline warriors who are winning the battle of humanity. During IPL season 13, Royal Challengers Bangalore will be paying a tribute to these Real Challengers through its #MyCovidHeroes initiatives.
To acknowledge the efforts and honour the sacrifices made by these real challengers, the RCB team has donned a tribute jersey with the message “My Covid Heroes” both during training and matches for the entire tournament. The message is displayed on the back of both the jerseys. RCB team will also be supporting GiveIndia Foundation by donating the proceeds from the auction of the jerseys that players wear during season’s first RCB match.
RCB players, through the season, will be celebrating these heroes and sharing some of the inspirational stories on the team’s social media to inspire RCB fans.
Some of the stories that will be shared through the season include Swati Rawal, an Air India commercial pilot who brought home 263 Indians stranded in Italy; Sagar Gupta Naugriya, co-founder of Indian Robotics Solutions since 2015- planned a successful launch for their Corona Combat Drone (CCD) to sanitize the overgrowing and stuffy neighbourhoods of Delhi; and Akshay Kothawale, an auto-rickshaw driver in Pune, used his savings to feed migrant workers in the region.
During the tribute jersey launch, RCB chairman Sanjeev Churiwala said, “Royal Challengers Bangalore has always stood for playing bold in the face of adversities and we believe that right now these Covid heroes are embodying this purpose by relentlessly fighting for the greater good. Humanity is going to be grateful to them for many generations to come and through this campaign, we wanted to be among the first to pay tribute to their challenger spirit both on and off the field.”
RCB captain Virat Kohli said, “In the past few months, whenever I heard the stories of the Covid Heroes it has given me literal goosebumps. These real challenges have made the country proud and inspired all of us to be more persistent and dedicated to our efforts to build a better tomorrow. I am truly proud to wear RCB’s “My Covid Heroes” jersey as a sign of solidarity and gratitude to everyone who is right now going the extra mile to support the community at large. They have batted day and night and fought on the field, and I am honored to call them my heroes.”
Wicket-keeper batsman Parthiv Patel also said that the side has adapted to the new playing guidelines during the training sessions and now they are looking to bring a smile on the faces of everyone through playing an exciting brand of cricket.
MAM
VML India lands two finalist spots at Cairns Hatchlings 2026
The Mumbai agency is back in Australia with two teams, a UN brief and 24 hours to impress
MUMBAI: VML India is heading to Australia again. The Mumbai-based creative agency has secured two finalist spots at the Cairns Hatchlings 2026 competition, one in the Audio category and one in Design, making it the only Indian agency to have reached the finals in both editions of the contest since its launch in 2025.
Four people will make the trip. Senior copywriter Shilpi Dey and senior art director Raj Thakkar will compete in Audio. Art directors Shabbir and Shruti Negi will go head-to-head with the world’s best in Design. The finals take place at the Cairns Convention Centre from 13th May, culminating in an awards ceremony on 15th May.
The work that got them there is worth examining. For the Audio category, Dey and Thakkar tackled a brief for LIVE LIKE MMAD with a campaign called Inner Voice, Interrupted. Using spatial audio techniques, the campaign recreates the overwhelming self-doubt that descends after a long workday, physically panning negative thoughts left and right before cutting the noise entirely to reveal a confident inner voice. Strategically targeted at commuters via Spotify during evening rush hours, the campaign reframes the hours after work as an opportunity for personal growth and charitable action.
For the Design category, Shabbir and Negi worked on a brief for Canteen’s Bandanna Day, a campaign highlighting how cancer pushes teenagers out of their own defining moments. Using a pixelated design language to create stark contrast between a blurred world of isolation and a focused world of connection, the campaign, titled The Flipside of Cancer, shows teenagers fading into the background of birthdays, skateparks and school proms. As a Canteen bandanna appears, the blur flips and the teenager snaps back into sharp focus.
Kalpesh Patankar, group chief creative officer of VML India, made no attempt to disguise his satisfaction. “We are immensely proud to see our teams consistently excel on the Cairns Hatchlings platform since its inception,” he said. “They have masterfully tackled challenging briefs across diverse categories, demonstrating both layered storytelling and a unique creative approach. This exceptional teamwork is truly inspiring.”
Dey and Thakkar, returning to the finals after last year’s run, were candid about the demands of the audio medium. “It’s one of the most demanding mediums, where we only have a few seconds to capture a listener’s world with sound alone, so absolute clarity is essential,” they said. “The true measure of creative work is its ability to create positive change, and our audio submission was made to help those who need it most while encouraging people to silence the inner voices that hold them back.”
Shabbir and Negi, competing in Design for the first time, described the experience as “a completely different beast.” “We see it as an opportunity to showcase our expertise, raise the bar, and challenge ourselves in new ways, while also learning from creative minds from across the globe,” they said.
In Australia, the four finalists will face a live 24-hour brief from the United Nations before presenting in a live pitch session. Twenty-four hours, one brief, one shot. VML India has been here before. It knows exactly what is at stake.
