MUMBAI: BBC World Service Trust has launched a campaign Jo Bola Wohi Sikander, wherein a riddle will be given to get people talking about a taboo issue as they try to solve the clues.

The campaign is produced by the BBC World Service Trust and funded by $5.9 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The campaign will be seen in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

Currently in its launch phase, the campaign is part of a two-and-a-half-year project that will be seen and heard on TV, radio and cinema, on supporting billboards and in print media.

BBC Trust creative director Radharani Mitra said, "The strength of the creative idea behind this campaign is that instead of an ad that tells people to talk, it actually stimulates people to talk. We believe the riddle posed in the advertisements is sufficiently enticing and tricky that people will have to talk about it with their friends in order to arrive at the answer."

As a part of the campaign, audiences will be given a local number to call up and leave their answers of the riddle. The winner will get a mobile phone with free talk time.

A parrot, which represents talking and smartness, has been chosen as the campaign's mascot. The parrot is smart, pesky, has an opinion about everything and a sense of humour. The campaign's strapline,Jo Bola Wohi Sikander ('those who talk are winners'), aims to stimulate ongoing conversation between people.