This smartphone brand is asking its consumers to put a pause on using smartphones

• Vivo’s research study released earlier this year highlighted how the increased screen time could have an impact on the physical and mental wellbeing of a person.
• While Netflix’s Social Dilemma did remind us about the consequences of being engrossed in smartphones and nudged us from our ignorance, its impact faded out after a week.
• Now Vivo is reminding its consumers that they need to balance their time between virtual and real-world through its digital campaign with Fareeda Jalal.
• We caught up with Nipun Marya, Director Brand Strategy, Vivo India to find out why a smartphone brand is asking people to take a break from smartphones.

We have all spent almost the entire 2020 locked inside our houses with our family members. However, have we really spent time with each other? We have swapped devices from mobiles to laptops, jumped from Houseparty calls with friends to endless Zoom meetings with our colleagues, played Among Us to lull us to sleep and watched Netflix even at the dinner table.

After the pandemic, we have turned to smartphones for entertainment and survival and it has become our lifeline. This excessive usage of smartphones has led to addiction among some users and is also having an adverse impact on relationships. Just like the disclaimers on cigarette packaging remind its users that smoking is injurious to health, phone makers may now have to point out that devices are injurious to relationships.

While Netflix’s Social Dilemma released earlier this year did shake us by drawing attention to the link between heavy smartphone usage and mental health disorders like anxiety and depression, we did forget about it a week later, like the series predicted we would.

Now, the smartphone brand Vivo has taken it upon itself again to remind the consumers to take a break from phones and #switchoff for a while.

The campaign features Fareeda Jalal, who plays the role of Dadi and is conceptualised and executed by Lowe Lintas. Jalal quietly observes her family getting ready for lunch. Her granddaughter takes a picture of the food, son is wrapping up a call and daughter-in-law and grandson are also engrossed in their phones. To get them to talk to each other and teach them a lesson through a playful analogy, Jalal plots a plan. As her family starts to consume their food, they realise it is tasteless because there isn’t any salt in it. This sparks a conversation between the members. With her little ploy, Jalal reminds how lifeless their lives have become because people have started spending more time in the virtual world than real.


Last year in December, Vivo launched its first edition of #SwitchOff campaign with brand ambassador Aamir Khan. It encouraged users to switch their phones off for a day and spend time with their loved ones to practice digital detox. With the pandemic, as the smartphone usage quadrupled, Vivo’s message was more relevant than ever.

It had also published an advertorial on January 5, 2020, in Times Life, displaying statistics of changes in behavioural and cognitive tendencies.

Vivo’s latest campaign is based on the insights that emerged from its study with Cybermedia Research titled ‘Vivo Smartphones and their impact on human relationships 2020,’ which highlighted how increased screen time could have an impact on the physical and mental wellbeing of a person.

As per the report, 88% of users agreed that people point them out for using the phone when they are with them. 77% of users admit that they feel moody/irritable without their smartphones compared to 33% last year and 71% of users agreed to have used their smartphones even while eating food.

We caught up with Nipun Marya, Director Brand Strategy, Vivo India to understand why is a smartphone brand asking people to put a pause on using smartphones, genesis of the idea behind the campaign and what would be some of Vivo’s focus areas in 2021.

Watch the interview below: