THE BEST AND WORST OF COMMERCIALS OF 2009

THE BEST AND WORST OF COMMERCIALS OF 2009

 An overview by Swayam Ganguly

 

A brilliant ad campaign is reflective not only of great creative work but also of the creative standards of an entire region. 2009 had seen advertisers playing it safe in India because of the recession but yet there were many who feel that it was a better year than 2008 in terms of creativity.

McCann Erickson’s “Human Bulbs” for Happydent shone in 2006 and Pepsi’s “Youngistaan” campaign was the highlight of 2008 but 2009 will go down as the year of Vodafone’s Zoozoos.

When most of the agencies were dishing out the same staple fare, two thumbs up to O&M for some refreshingly fresh work. After the famous pug, the Zoozoos were created for a campaign featuring value added services. The timing was also impeccable as the spots were launched during the IPL series. One of the most interesting facts about this campaign is that even though the ZooZoo characters look animated, they have been played by real people dressed in white attire.

The media mix for the campaign included television, print, outdoor, radio and online. The ZooZoo community on Facebook features all the commercials.

 

Gillette Mach 3 – India Votes to shave or not to shave

 

The Mach 3 is a brilliant invention when it comes to a good shave but the trend observed was that men were not ready to invest in Gillette razors despite the “Gillette – The best a man can get” tagline. Despite spending much moolah on cell phones, watches and expensive perfumes they preferred to buy cheap razors. The campaign focused on a survey with a debate – What kind of men do women like – clean shaven or with a stubble and this spilled across media on “to shave or not to shave”

The good news for Gillette is that this campaign was effective in boosting up sales.

Surf – Playground is classroom

 

The idea: The agency came up with a ‘Surf Excel Children’s festival’ where children can play in the mud, getting dirty along the way, and let their creativity run free through clay statues, paintings and more. It used the Times of India as a pivot with 21 days of coverage allowing 45,000 kids to be part of the event. All this to drive home the point that getting dirty is a part of life, and playgrounds are classrooms without walls. The television commercials played on this very emotion “Daag acche hain” to further build up on the brand image.

Tata Tea – Jaago Re

The idea: To shake the youth of their slumber and lethargy towards elections and voting, agency came up with a special series on Channel [V] titled Vote Ya Vaat, that used popular icons, celebrities and common people to urge viewers to vote. A microsite called Jaagore.com was the focal point of the campaign. Also created a character called ‘Soya Soya Chand’’ on radio, besides a website whysosleepy.com. The television commercials focused on a number of issues ranging from exercise of voting rights to corruption in society with youth and tea being the focal point.

 

Dove Soap – The ultimate test

 

The idea: Popular insight remained that only soaps that smell good are good soaps.

The target group did not feel the need for a moisturizing soap. What’s more, a woman will allow only a trusted source to touch her face, and Pond’s set out to gain that trust. Hence the campaign, ‘Give us one half of your face. Take the Dove challenge’.

This campaign did wonders for the brand as many women turned Dove loyalists as the soap brought the concept of a soap and moisturizer together effectively in its advertising.

But what happens if pumpkins start thinking and bozos get paid for being creative director? What happens when nonsense and mindlessness get married? It is then that disasters of a short span of time happen that are known as bad television commercials. Here are 5 creative mishaps in no particular order.

Men’s fairness cream is a fairly new product in India. This is all the more reason for the advertising to be refreshing. Alas it is not so. Emami Fair and Handsome initially had a guy going to a girl’s hostel to steal cream with the irritating “Hi Handsome Hi Handsome” jingle. The new ad is no better with a stuntman trying to be a hero thanks to the fairness cream. Egad!

THIS IS THE PERFECT RESPONSE

They say Akshay Kumar is better at comedy than action. I fully agree as Thums up should have had him doing comedy instead of the stupid stunts in 30 seconds all to get a thums up bottle which makes me realize that it must be pretty difficult to get access to a Thums up bottle. Inane? Yes I’m afraid so.

As if buying foreign companies wasn’t enough. Rajnigandha pan masala has gone one step further to make the masala chewing hero go abroad to study and solve complex equations at the drop of a hat to a racist teacher. Setting a bad example for kids don’t you think?

The Rupa Macroman ad has the hero going where no man has ever gone before. No not into space but the ladies loo. Get a life Macroman! Girls come in and out and the guy is mouth picked by them and has lipstick all over his body. Vulgar? Yes sir! Wonder what he was doing in the ladies loo in his undies in the first place.

Last but not the least is the Fair and Lovely commercial which shows negativity and gender bias. Use fair and lovely and you will become fair and successful and your family and friends will praise you. Is there no other way to sell fairness cream?

To conclude I would like to mention a commercial which was funny as well as bang on. The ING Vyasa advert for a lost/stolen debit card.

A person is running behind a thief who has stolen his debit card. After a while a postman joins the chase. Finally, the thief gets the better of them and the victim is left puffing and panting. The postman catches up and delivers an envelope which has a new replacement card in it.