MTV joins hands with Parle for ‘Dunk the Junk’ youth initiative

Did you ever think cleaning up streets could be fun? Could ‘dirty’ be turned into ‘beauty’? MTV, the universe of the young, is here to drive home this message through its unique clean-up drive, ‘Parle MTV the Junkyard Project’, which is a joint initiative by Parle and MTV to support the Prime Minister’s Swachch Bharat Campaign.

Parle MTV The Junkyard Project is an attempt to get the youth to take a stand on cleanliness and also aims to action change on-ground through clean-up drives that are built on music and art. Taking their Litter Free campaign forward, this new campaign will create the largest youth clean-up movement that will seamlessly integrate across screens including TV, web, mobile and on-ground to mobilize the youth of the country. This unique clean-up movement by MTV has also won critical acclaim and been awarded Gold at the recently held Appies Asia Conference as one of the most effective CSR activities across Asia.

To drive social media conversations, MTV has launched a war cry ‘Dunk That Junk’. Bollywood and television celebrities such as Shah Rukh Khan, Varun Dhawan, Sunny Deol, Ayushman, Cyrus Broacha, Cyrus Sahukar, Anushka Manchanda, Sara Jane Dias, Kriti Sanon, Taapsee Pannu, Sunny Singh, Gautam Gulati, Karishma Tanna, Upen Patel, Parth Samthaan and several others have joined the movement by gamifying the slogan and challenging each other to ‘Dunk That Junk’ through interesting challenges like dizzy dunk, blindfold dunk, sing-a-song dunk, dialogue dunk, jump and dunk etc. and nominating others to participate in order to drop garbage where it belongs – in the bin!

Ferzad Palia

Ferzad Palia, EVP Viacom18 and Business Head, English and Youth cluster, said, “At MTV we believe in championing causes and issues that matter to the youth. And, state of cleanliness is an issue that comes right on the top of that list. Our mission is to transform the dirty junkyards into beautiful art-spaces – the exact opposite of filth. The 300+ college outreach is going to widen the footprint of action on ground. Built on the cusp of music and art and supported by Bollywood celebrities, this clean-up drive is our attempt to drive higher conversation around do-not-litter; that are backed by solid action on-ground.  So, don’t be a punk and Dunk That Junk right now.”

Pravin Kulkarnii General Manager Marketing, Parle Products, said “As a brand for the Indian masses, it brings us great pleasure to associate with an initiative that aims at encouraging youth to contribute to the society. At Parle, we have always been dedicated to extending our support towards creating a clean and healthy society via our Litter Free campaign. Through this project we are instrumental in not only preaching but also helping our young consumers practice the art of cleanliness in a fun way.”

The core of this initiative is to turn the dirty into beauty. Parle and MTV have tied up with multiple graffiti and street art experts to convert chosen undesignated dumping grounds to beautiful graffiti art projects and utility areas. Across cities, MTV and Parle will join hands with college students to clean up the undesignated dumping ground, while the clean-up musicians and comedy artists will liven the mood through performances on the street, thus making the cleaning up activity a fun musical and artistic experience that has a high social media share quotient. The dirty dumpyard transforms into a beautiful Instagram-friendly art arena; and all this happens while grooving to some happy music.

Besides the on-ground drive, MTV and Parle will reach out to youth of the country through short films, music anthem, music videos, on-air vignettes that will drive the key messaging of Dunk That Junk. Through a 300+ college outreach program, Parle and MTV attempt to drive higher involvement of colleges to step forward and clean key areas in their immediate neighborhood. Leveraging the music equity, the brand is also collaborating with key musicians to create a cleanliness anthem and a music video for young people in India. MTV will also be launching an interesting and entertaining static campaign around the property which will see ‘superheroes’ supporting this noble cause and lending a hand in making India clean. MTV also aims to use the ubiquitous beacons of cleanliness in the city – the ghanta gadees – to drive home the message of ‘Dunk the Junk’ through interesting graffiti.

MTV has launched Parle MTV The Junkyard Project under the umbrella of MTV Act, which is MTV’s pro-social campaign that lives 365 days and strives to create awareness on various social causes. MTV has always been at the forefront of voicing issues that matter and mobilizing the youth to take a stand. Last year, MTV urged India’s youth to go out and vote for the better future of the nation through the massively successful MTV’s Rock the Vote Campaign and the youth obliged by showing up in unprecedented numbers. This year, MTV is on a mission to mobilize youngsters to come together for yet another worthy cause to clean up the mess that we see around us and to make India the awesome country that it deserves to be.

Blasts and gunfire echoed around Bujumbura for most of Friday and residents said officials spent the day collecting bullet-riddled bodies from city streets. There was no fighting overnight and the capital's streets were calm on Saturday. Army spokesman Gaspard Baratuza said gunmen had attacked three military sites in Bujumbura, kindling a day of clashes across the city. He said 79 attackers were killed and 45 others captured. Four police officers and four soldiers also died. "Sweep operations have finished now," Baratuza said, adding that officials confiscated weapons and ammunition. Unrest in Burundi, which started in April when President Pierre Nkurunziza announced plans for a third term in office, has unnerved a region still volatile two decades after the genocide in neighbouring Rwanda. See also: UON don Prof Nzuve shot dead in night robbery in his Tala home Friday's clashes were condemned by the United States, which like other Western powers fears the Central African nation could slide back into ethnic conflict. The U.N. Security Council was briefed on the developments in Burundi late on Friday. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, who is president of the council for December, said the 15-member body was ready to consider "further steps." The police did not identify the gunmen. One of the generals behind the failed coup attempt said afterwards that his rebel group still aimed to topple the president. Residents said some of Friday's dead were killed after being rounded up by the police in house-to-house searches, an allegation the police denied. According to witnesses and pictures circulated on social media, some bodies had their hands tied behind their backs. "They entered in our compounds, gathered all young and middle-aged men, took them and killed them away from their homes," said one resident in Nyakabiga.
Read more at: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2000185236/death-toll-from-day-of-clashes-in-burundi-capital-rises-to-nearly-90

Blasts and gunfire echoed around Bujumbura for most of Friday and residents said officials spent the day collecting bullet-riddled bodies from city streets. There was no fighting overnight and the capital's streets were calm on Saturday. Army spokesman Gaspard Baratuza said gunmen had attacked three military sites in Bujumbura, kindling a day of clashes across the city. He said 79 attackers were killed and 45 others captured. Four police officers and four soldiers also died. "Sweep operations have finished now," Baratuza said, adding that officials confiscated weapons and ammunition. Unrest in Burundi, which started in April when President Pierre Nkurunziza announced plans for a third term in office, has unnerved a region still volatile two decades after the genocide in neighbouring Rwanda. See also: UON don Prof Nzuve shot dead in night robbery in his Tala home Friday's clashes were condemned by the United States, which like other Western powers fears the Central African nation could slide back into ethnic conflict. The U.N. Security Council was briefed on the developments in Burundi late on Friday. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, who is president of the council for December, said the 15-member body was ready to consider "further steps." The police did not identify the gunmen. One of the generals behind the failed coup attempt said afterwards that his rebel group still aimed to topple the president. Residents said some of Friday's dead were killed after being rounded up by the police in house-to-house searches, an allegation the police denied. According to witnesses and pictures circulated on social media, some bodies had their hands tied behind their backs. "They entered in our compounds, gathered all young and middle-aged men, took them and killed them away from their homes," said one resident in Nyakabiga.
Read more at: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2000185236/death-toll-from-day-of-clashes-in-burundi-capital-rises-to-nearly-90

Blasts and gunfire echoed around Bujumbura for most of Friday and residents said officials spent the day collecting bullet-riddled bodies from city streets. There was no fighting overnight and the capital's streets were calm on Saturday. Army spokesman Gaspard Baratuza said gunmen had attacked three military sites in Bujumbura, kindling a day of clashes across the city. He said 79 attackers were killed and 45 others captured. Four police officers and four soldiers also died. "Sweep operations have finished now," Baratuza said, adding that officials confiscated weapons and ammunition. Unrest in Burundi, which started in April when President Pierre Nkurunziza announced plans for a third term in office, has unnerved a region still volatile two decades after the genocide in neighbouring Rwanda. See also: UON don Prof Nzuve shot dead in night robbery in his Tala home Friday's clashes were condemned by the United States, which like other Western powers fears the Central African nation could slide back into ethnic conflict. The U.N. Security Council was briefed on the developments in Burundi late on Friday. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, who is president of the council for December, said the 15-member body was ready to consider "further steps." The police did not identify the gunmen. One of the generals behind the failed coup attempt said afterwards that his rebel group still aimed to topple the president. Residents said some of Friday's dead were killed after being rounded up by the police in house-to-house searches, an allegation the police denied. According to witnesses and pictures circulated on social media, some bodies had their hands tied behind their backs. "They entered in our compounds, gathered all young and middle-aged men, took them and killed them away from their homes," said one resident in Nyakabiga.
Read more at: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2000185236/death-toll-from-day-of-clashes-in-burundi-capital-rises-to-nearly-90