Move Over Troublemakers – Vodafone's 'Self-Defense Umbrella' is Here

For their latest work, Joshua Tree Films teamed up with Ogilvy Mumbai to bring to life Vodafone and M-Pesa’s 'Self- Defense Umbrella' campaign.

M-Pesa, powered by Vodafone, is a mobile wallet used to transfer money by the migrant population, consisting largely of men, having come out to work in bigger cities sending it to their wives and families back home. These men at most times are very worried about the safety of their wives who they have left behind.

Taking a cue from this, the idea of the self-defense umbrella came about, wherein the women, in addition to the money, will receive an umbrella that will have pictorial references of self-defense techniques that they can administer using the umbrella in case of an attack.

A film was shot partly in Mumbai and for the larger part in Jaunpur village in Uttar Pradesh, about two kilometers out of Varanasi. A tad different from their earlier projects, the challenge in this one was to keep the idea simple and yet execute it effectively to evoke emotion and create awareness.

Director Prayrit Seth and a crew of about ten people shot the film with a 5D camera over two days with minimal resources.

“Essentially we were not there to shoot a film. We were there to capture the moment. All we wanted to do was to be present when these women received the umbrella and see how they reacted. These women didn’t know what they were going to receive over and above the money and the moment they got the umbrella their natural reactions said it all.” says Seth.

“We saw everything from shy smiles, to happy faces to elements of surprise and intrigue laced with a lot of curiosity. They had questions about how they can use the umbrella and were soaking in all the information being given to them, gleefully. The entire experience was heart-warming, to say the least” further adds Seth.

“We are in the business of making films but for us too, this project was a chance to get associated with something meaningful. And we couldn’t be more proud and happy about that. Work that brings such satisfaction is not very easy to come by and we are glad we can contribute towards making a difference in some way,” elaborates Joshua Upputuru, the Executive Producer of Joshua Tree.