In India, almost every day an angry man throws acid on his girlfriend’s or wife’s face. Almost 1000 cases of acid attacks are reported every year. The Supreme Court of India has banned over-the-counter sale of acid since 2013. Yet acid is easily available – anyone can go and purchase toilet cleaning acids without any questions asked and for just USD 1 or less for a litre. 

Make Love Not Scars, an NGO took on a mammoth task - to end acid sale.

We thought whose plea to end acid sale would be more compelling than an acid attack survivor’s. Reshma, an acid attack survivor was made the NGO’s spokesperson. She shared beauty tips in a series of beauty vlogs called ‘Beauty Tips by Reshma’. Each vlog ended with a plea to crowd source signatures on a petition addressed to the Prime Minister of India for enforcing the ban on over-the-counter sale of acid. 

Beauty Tips by Reshma is a series of three beauty vlogs that crowd sourced signatures on a petition addressed to the Prime Minister of India for enforcing the ban on over-the-counter sale of acid.

They were launched on The Logical Indian - a digital platform for news and views, via YouTube.  

Reshma’s plea instantly triggered a global conversation. The campaign received acknowledgement and appreciation from the likes of BBC, Discovery, Reuters, The New York Times, Time, The Wall Street Journal, Daily Mail, Mashable, The Independent, Huffington Post, Public Radio International and many more.

Celebrities like Ashton Kutcher, Amy Poehler, Amitabh Bachchan, Sachin Tendulkar; Indian politician and national spokesperson of Bharatiya Janta Party - Sambit Patra; influencers like Jacqueline Novogratz and many more spoke for the cause on social media.

Indian superstar Shahrukh Khan's NGO Meer Foundation funded the outdoor campaign.

PR worth USD 17 MM was generated at zero cost. The NGO was encouraged to turn the campaign into a fundraiser. We needed 25,000 signatures. The petition has received over 309,000 signatures.

August 31, 2015: End Acid Sale campaign begins

December 8, 2015: The Supreme Court of India directs Indian States to enforce the ban on open sale of acid.

90% of acid attack victims are women. We knew they would be most empathetic to the cause. The question was how do we reach women online? We sought what do women search online. It wasn’t acid attack. Instead it was ‘Do it yourself Beauty Videos’. Beauty Videos and Acid Attack – it was the perfect contradiction. That’s how Beauty Tips by Reshma, an acid attack survivor became the big idea.

Make Love Not Scars (MLNS) is a non government organization dedicated to provide acid attack survivors an opportunity to regain their life on their own terms through recovery, rehabilitation, and reintegration.

The NGO took on a mammoth task - to enforce the ban on over-the-counter sale of acid.