India is a nation of 1.3 billion people yet less than one in every ten lakh people donate their organs after death and our Deceased Organ Donation rate stands at 0.52 per million population today. Youth Entertainment Brand MTV along with ORGAN India, an initiative of the NGO Parashar Foundation, has launched an action-oriented campaign, “MTV ORGAN Daan – Your One Time Pass (OTP) to Heaven” to debunk myths and drive awareness about organ shortage in India and encourage people to sign-up to be organ donors after they are gone.
Launched during the Daan Utsav, i.e. the Joy of Giving Week (2nd Oct-8th Oct), the channel has curated this campaign around the prevalent Indian belief that ‘Punya/Good deeds are a gateway to Heaven’ and Organ Donation can surely help one reserve a spot up there. This call to the action thereby aims to encourage sign-ups as organ donors.
“According to MTV Insight Studio’s research, 81% of young Indians have actively started supporting cause-led initiatives. So, they have started turning armchair activism into actual action. Whether it is through our brand campaigns or original programming, we believe that the soft power of media can be a catalyst to this change,” said Navin Shenoy, Head of Marketing – Youth, Music and English Entertainment, Viacom18.
“We are thrilled to be a part of the MTV ORGAN Daan Campaign,” says Anika Parashar, Chairperson, Parashar Foundation. “My mother, Former Chairperson, Late. Ms. Kirti Parashar, received a life-saving heart transplant that gave her 5 more years with us. It was possible only because someone donated their organs upon their death, and saved so many lives, including my mother’s, and we are truly grateful for that.”
Bollywood actor Arjun Mathur who came on board to echo the need for awareness amongst masses said that despite the deluge of information available on organ donation and the alarming data, there is still a long road ahead until society rises and pledges to make a difference.
MTV has put out a series of interactive social media posts to debunk existing myths around organ donation along with an insightful infographic that reflected the enormity of the issue in India. As a central messaging tool, MTV has also created two brand films that depict the campaign idea of One Time Pass to Heaven and delivers the message of ‘Organ Daan’. These films will be aired across channels in the Youth, Music and English Entertainment cluster of Viacom18 along with MTV India’s social handles.
MTV and ORGAN India aim to trigger sign-ups on www.mtvorgandaan.com, urging Indians to become Organ donors. On signing up you will get an auto-triggered personalized ‘One Time Pass to Heaven’ that can be shared on personal social media handles as a proud organ donor. This will eventually be followed by the actual organ donor card.
