It is my second day at the train halt point in Patna. A number of BBC Hindi Radio listeners have assembled at a modest venue in central Patna to speak to programme makers.
Here, I am surrounded by a group of about 10 Bihari men. Should I do it? Should I take out my mobile phone and press the button that starts my ringtone? I want to make the most of my visit to Bihar and get feedback from people we are trying to reach with our work. I decide to give it a go. I want to know what these men think when they hear my ringtone.
I press the button. The ringtone begins to chime.
Con… con… con… con, CONDOM!
Some smile, some smirk, another stands by, expressionless.
The BBC World Service Trust is working in partnership with the Government of India’s National Aids Control Organisation on a mass media campaign to make condoms more acceptable. India has approximately 2.3 million people living with HIV. Condoms are effective in preventing HIV; however, research indicates that a key barrier to condom use is embarrassment and negative judgement of condom users. Our aim is to make condoms more socially acceptable so that people can purchase and use condoms without embarrassment or judgement.
Characters from our television advertisement, promoting the condom ringtone
Along with an integrated mass media campaign that includes television and radio advertisements, we created a condom-themed mobile ringtone. The ringtone repeats the word “condom” 55 times in an appealing a cappella-style song. Those who want to show support for condoms, or those who just like the ringtone, can download it on their mobile phones. India is the world’s fastest-growing mobile telephone market, with approximately 400 million users. We decided to develop a condom ringtone to capitalise on the popularity of mobile phones and personalized ringtones. We received nearly 550,000 requests to download the ringtone through SMS short code in India, plus another 200,000 requests from the dedicated website, from people around the world.
So what did these men have to say about ringtone? One thought it “strange”. Another followed, saying, “It is not strange. It is practical. Something like this is necessary. In our country, we need to know about these things. The ringtone will help make condoms more known.” Another man added, “In our culture, we know everything about each other, but we don’t discuss these things. I think it will be very effective, very beneficial.”
I was pleased to hear this reaction because one of the objectives of our “condom normalisation” project is to get people talking about condoms. Research shows that men who talk about condoms are more likely to be consistent condom users. Every time one’s phone rings, people react and conversation ensues. The aim is that embarrassment about the word will gradually reduce and condoms become “normal” health products.
The young man who had been smiling the whole time, a 21 year old working as a trainee in a 3 star hotel, volunteered that he had seen the ringtone advertisement on television and liked it very much. I asked him if he would use the ringtone on his phone and he said yes, but added, “We can’t use it in front of our parents.” An older man added, “17-18 year olds are engaging in sex, but they do not have the knowledge. Therefore I think this ringtone is a good thing.”
And what do the women think of the ringtone? I asked one of our citizen journalists (see my previous blog) who said “I don’t think I can use it. If I am in a meeting at work, I would get embarrassed. I don’t feel shy, but I would worry about how other people would react.”
These views show that some progress has been made in making condoms more acceptable. They are corroborated by the project’s impact research findings. However, these views and the impact data also demonstrate that there is still work to be done. Attitudinal and behaviour change are slow, gradual processes and the stimuli required to influence positive change should be regular and long term.
Now it’s time to leave the train and head back to Delhi. This journey has allowed me to speak to some of our partners and the people we are reaching with our entertainment and factual programmes, advertisements, and even mobile ringtones. I have been reminded that in the state of Bihar, and elsewhere in India, the development challenges are many and the potential for mass media to be used to communicate information (whether it be on child nutrition or immunisation, promoting human rights or tackling bonded labour) is vast. As the Trust celebrates its ten year anniversary working in India this year, we will endeavour to meet these new challenges as well as continue to take advantage of the thriving media market in India to help people improve their lives.
