Superbowl in USA features Ad on Farmers' Protests

Overview

• An ad drawing attention to the ongoing farmer protests was aired before the Superbowl in the USA.
• The ad was broadcasted on CBS in Fresno County, just before the NFL (national Football League) Championship - the most-popularly watched game in the US.
• This 30-seconds crowd funded ad highlights the number of deaths, human rights violations, and other issues of the protest, calling it the 'largest protest in the history'. 

What is Superbowl?

• Superbowl is an annual football championship watched by millions of people across America.
• According to a report by the Indian Express, the Superbowl had 100.45 million viewers last year. It has been played on the first Sunday of February since 2004.
• This year, the NFL headed to Tampa, Florida, for Superbowl 55.
• The ad on the Farmer protests however was aired in Fresno city, California, and was not broadcasted nationwide in America. 

What is the ad all about

• This 30-second video begins with a quote by Martin Luther King Jr, which is – 'Injustice somewhere is a threat to Justice Everywhere'.
• The video also takes account of a message by the Mayor of Fresno, California. He states 'We want you to know, our brothers and sisters in India, that we stand with you,'.
• The video, terming the farming industry as 'An industry that feeds you is an industry worth fighting' quotes several statistics about the protests such as :
• 250 million people worldwide,
• Arrests of Journalists covering the protests,
• 160+ deaths,
• 7 human rights violations,
• Internet shutdown, etc.
• The video also mentions how the protest got worldwide recognition by Rihanna’s tweet. 

People behind the Ad

Raj Sodhi-Layne, an Indian-American Banker, along with her companions was responsible behind the making of the ad.

• With the help of contributions from the Sikh community in America and a GoFundMe page ( a portal that assists in raising funds for a cause), Raj and the team could gather the funds to put together the ad.
• As per the Your Central Valley website, the advertisement was funded by the Central Valley Sikh community to raise awareness about the farmers’ protests in India.

 More international recognition to farmer protests

• The Farmer protests have been getting international recognition worldwide after tweets from celebrities like Rihanna and Greta Thunberg.
• Numerous political leaders from countries like USA, Canada, UK and Australia have expressed their views on the poor handling of the protests by the Indian Government.
• Other American celebrities such as Susan Sarandon and Amanda Cerny have also expressed their views via Twitter, in support of the Farmers. 

Can all the international recognition constructively aid the protests, or is it tarnishing India’s image in the global scenario? Let us know in the comments below.