What Is The Recent #TheRealMacho Campaign by Amul Macho?

These five men, from different forms of life, got together to answer this one question and their answer showed us an absolutely different and beautiful side of masculinity.

From Ye Toh Bada Toing Hai to Bade Aaram Se,  from Saif Ali Khan to Tiger Shroff, Amul Macho has had a certain way of doing things, with drool-worthy built-up men and attractive models. But their recent campaign #TheRealMacho has made us hit brakes, look over twice and start afresh on the term ‘Macho’

“‘Be A Man’. Personally, what does it mean to you?”

Launched on International Men’s Day this year, #TheRealMacho campaign was all about breaking stereotypes on what it means to ‘Be A Man’ If we were to define the term ‘Macho’, ten years back from now, it would begin with six-pack abs, protecting women, strength, and superiority in terms of physical force and deficiency in terms of having emotions.

In a nutshell, it would have been these statements: men don’t cry, men are strong, men protect their women and men earn bread for their families. 

But now, it’s time where Gender Equality befalls. We’ve heard women come out with the stories of societal pressure, and now, we know it is a battle that has to be fought from both sides. And it starts when men start questioning their normal as well.

These five men, from different forms of life, got together to answer this one question and their answer showed us an absolutely different and beautiful side of masculinity.

1) The Simple And The Kind: Pranav Misra

A model, a creator and a founder, for Pranav, women have always been part of his inspiration. His company Huemn, is co-founded by a woman. Born from a family where his father got sacrificed to cancer, Pranav takes after his father on patience, perseverance, kindness and simplicity that he had while fighting cancer. To be #TheRealMacho, according to him, is to be responsible for your thoughts, your actions and their consequences.

“We’ve been reckless enough, in the way we’ve dealt with things. Not caring used to be cool. But it’s not anymore. We need to care, to know the difference between the right and the wrong”

2) The True To Himself: Ssumier S Pasricha

#TheRealMacho according to him is not about the pride of six-pack abs anymore, it is about the pride of having six emotions. It is about being okay in the back seat, and it is about being okay to be an emotional caregiver. Better known as the sensational Pammi Aunty, Ssumier carved out his own journey and became a man, who was true to his himself. He states an instance of how Lord Shiva had accepted both the masculinity and femininity in him and so can anyone.

3) The Equalist: Yahya Bootwala

A well-acclaimed performer and a poet of the recent times, Yahya grew through the women he loved. He points out how men have been programmed in a way that it is so easy to believe you have the right to put a claim on a woman you are with. And it is so hard to unlearn that this is not the right thing to do anymore. It takes courage to treat them the way you’d like to be treated. To let people have the freedom to chose their own colours, their own careers and their own path.

4) The Compassionate: Vineeth Vincent

Vineeth is a beatboxer, an MC, and a compassionate soul. For him, #TheRealMacho was letting go of the male ego that the society had incurred in him. He made his choices, left meat to show compassion for all life forms, let go of friends who had mistreated women in the past and knew that it was time to stand up with the women. He praised his mother for the courage and bravery she showed by raising him and his siblings as a single mother. And for simply realising, how easy it is to go in the flow and do the wrong things and the strength it takes to stand against all of that is what makes him #TheRealMacho.

5) The Believer of Femininity: Gunjan Utreja

Raised in a family, where they would send out gifts and cards with his mother’s name and the family, Gunjan tells how his upbringing has created an impact on how much he respects women. To know the power they hold, that they have created this whole mankind through the miracle of birth, and acknowledging it is an essential part of being a man, according to him.

We’ve all watched the Macho ads numerous times on TV, hummed along with the tagline, and laughed at the innuendos! But change is coming, and the #TheRealMacho campaign makes us believe in it all the more. Today, the count is 5, let’s hope it goes only up from here.