With the third edition of their initiative ‘Pawsome Diwali’, the channel has teamed up with leading NGOs of the country to spread awareness about the adverse effects of bursting crackers during Diwali.
Diwali, is inarguably one of the most awaited occasions in India. The entire country is in the festive mood, children on their holidays and all geared up to revel in the celebrations. In all these festivities, one usually tends to overlook how these celebrations affect the animals around us.
Animals have an acute sense of hearing and smell, the features that are a part of their survival mechanism. But the same attributes cause them acute disturbance and discomfort with the loud noise of crackers and the leftover gunpowder. For their landmark campaign – ‘Pawsome Diwali’, kids’ favorite feline characters- Honey and Bunny from Sony YAY! Have been entitled to drive this message forward.
Commenting on this initiative, Sony Pictures Networks India, Kids’ Genre business head Leena Lele Dutta said, “Diwali is a festival of lights and not noise. With the first two years, we encouraged and introduced kids to the message of celebrating noise and pollution free Diwali. With the third edition the call for action evolves to inspire kids to make ‘cracker-free Diwali’ a habit. We want our next generation to understand the repercussions of bursting crackers and its adverse effects on pets, animals and even the environment. With Honey and Bunny being kid’s two favourite toon characters, our hope is that their message will positively translate into a concrete change on these young and bright minds.”
As a part of the entire drive, Honey and Bunny with their young fans donated ear mufflers to animal shelters and NGOs working towards animal welfare, to shield animals against the noise of fire-crackers. They also got together with NGOs like Jeev Basera, Stray Relief and Animal Welfare, India and Almighty Animal Care Trust to organize workshops across various key cities like Lucknow, Delhi and Chennai respectively to educate young minds about the importance of a noise-free Diwali.
Jeev Basera (SPCA Lucknow) president Rakhi Kishore noted, “In my opinion it’s a great initiative by Sony YAY! that they are recognizing animal distress as a real problem. People should not forget that animals are an important and integral part of the ecosystem and they need to be loved and nurtured and cared for. Honey and Bunny in their adorable form and character are spreading the beautiful message of having a safe and cracker-free (noise free) Diwali and Jeev Basera loved to be a part of this initiative of Sony YAY!.”
Not only this, social media celebrities also joined hands with YAY! to address all age groups and amplified the message through engaging videos and explanatory posts. Through their digital outreach platforms, Sony YAY! also shared informative posts, contests and messages featuring Honey and Bunny requesting their fans to be more considerate to their pets and animal friends.
Almighty Animal Care Trust, Chennai founder and president Sai Vignesh added, “I support the initiative of Sony YAY! to raise awareness among kids about celebrating Diwali by not bursting crackers. Crackers are harmful to our health, environment and animals around us.”
The overarching thought was to instil a sense of empathy amongst the young fans so that they can celebrate Diwali in a pawsome way for years to come and bring happiness not only to their friends and family but also to animals.
STRAW (Stray Relief and Animal Welfare),Delhi co- founder and managing trustee Vasanthi Kumar stated, “My experience with Sony YAY! has been Fantastic. Sony YAY! is a wonderful fun channel for children to connect with the world of animals & environment. Inspired from the initiative of Pawsome Diwali kids along with our NGO volunteers took a pledge on not bursting crackers this Diwali.”