Colgate-Palmolive (India) Ltd announced a partnership with para-athlete Kiran Kanojia on 30 May 2022, naming her part of its ‘Smile Karo Aur Shuru Ho Ja’ campaign, according to a PTI wire story distributed through Latestly and confirmed on Colgate’s own investor relations site.
Who is Kiran Kanojia?
She’s known as India’s blade runner — an IT professional who was heading home for her 25th birthday when robbers pushed her from a moving train, an incident that resulted in the loss of her left leg. She went on to become India’s first female blade runner and has completed six half marathons, per her Wikipedia profile and earlier reporting on her story.
What is the Colgate campaign actually doing?
The brand’s ‘Smile Karo Aur Shuru Ho Ja’ initiative is built around the idea of starting the day — and facing setbacks — with optimism. Kiran Kanojia’s involvement was covered by afaqs!, Indiantelevision.com, and the PTI wire, with Colgate’s own press release describing the partnership as a way to ‘spread smiles and optimism.’ The company published Hindi-language video content built around her story, including a video titled ‘Colgate Salutes Kiran Kanojia’ and a Facebook post introducing her as India’s first female blade runner.
Where does she show up outside the ad?
Kanojia maintains a public Instagram account, @kirankanojiabladerunner, where she’s described as ‘India’s First Female Blade Runner.’ That’s consistent with the identity Colgate built its campaign around rather than a one-off brand invention — her half marathons as India’s first female blade runner predate the campaign, per her Wikipedia profile.
Why put a blade runner in a toothpaste ad?
It’s a small but telling signal of where adaptive-sports visibility is heading in Indian advertising: not as a token appearance, but as the literal face of a national optimism campaign. For a woman who rebuilt a competitive athletic career after losing a limb in a violent, random act, that’s a different kind of finish line than a half marathon — just as public, and just as deliberate.
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