I found out about this video via a Bitch magazine blog post. It already has over 3 million views. It’s by an Indian rapper named Sofia Ashraf, who changed the words to Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda,” turning it into an environmental protest song.  To keep up with what Sofia is up to, you can follow her on Facebook here.

The issue at hand is that Unilever is neither cleaning up nor compensating the people of Kodaikanal, who have been affected by its thermometer factory.

Interestingly, she used to work for Ogilvy & Mather, which counts Unilever as one of its clients. Here’s more on that and an article about the song via Indian media. The article ends with, “it ought to be a grim reminder to brands that the content that attacks them will beat the content they create, any day of the week, especially if its in an engaging, shareable format.”

You can sign the petition against Unilever here and view the original press release here.

Is it craftivism? Not so much, but it is definitely activism (and craftivism-adjacent). It will interesting to see how this plays out, if things will change. But one thing the song has done is amplified the issue, taking it to a more global discussion. Widening the scope of issues can help pile on more pressure, even pushing changes into action.

That’s the anecdotal story of what the Chilean arpilleras accomplished, by including tiny pockets filled with scrolls of information on their backs, news of what was happening under Pinochet’s regime got through to the rest of the world through missionaries returning home.

And craftivism helps amplify issues that need amplifying, whether that’s by raising an issue in your community or the world.  In short, that’s kind of the whole point, the hidden value of which is that as you make the work yourself, you are reminded of why it’s important to talk about.

It’s not about raising the voices of those that are needy, but about raising your voice with theirs. It’s about joining in the fight, not rescuing anyone. Through amplification of situations that others are going through, we hold their hands in spirit, we raise them so that they are heard by more people, and we help them tighten into a fist with which to fight when necessary.

For more information on Unilever’s history in Kodaikanal, check out this informative article by the social activist Nityanand Jayaraman in today’s Hindustan Times and the website kodaimercury.org. (The latter of which is the link in Nityanand’s Twitter profile, @nityanandjraman.)