Addendum is a weekly column that takes a sometimes hard, sometimes casual, sometimes irreverent yet never malicious look at some of the new or recent advertisements and comments on them.
Cheers to woman power!
I’m writing this on International Women’s Day. And I must say I was pleased to see the Amul milk commercial created by FCB Ulka. There’s a very special bond between mother and daughter. This film captures it on celluloid. The busy mother taking care of the needs of the house with no time for herself. The smart professional daughter carrying the burden of work-life on her young shoulders. And the seemingly light banter between them which has the complete breadth of a special relationship underlying it. Good casting, and acting, a well-written script and you have all the makings of a well-made film. Add to that the loved and trusted brand Amul and you join the mother and daughter to raise a toast, with Amul milk, of course, to “womanhood” and the world of things that accompany that little word. A gender-sensitive commercial released on a very relevant day. Cheers to that!
Another winner from Whisper. A storyline that begins with the depressing words most women get to hear about those five days. And these are the thoughts that haunt badminton ace Ashwini Ponnappa, restaurateur Anahita Dhondy and Ayesha Aziz, the youngest commercial pilot in India. And the script effortlessly changes gears to show these young women exploding into action on just those five days, busting myths and spreading the message of confidence. And then the film ends with them exhorting you to make a placard of what you achieved in those five days, take a selfie and post it on a site. There’s an attitude-changing, brand positioning ad film if I’ve ever seen one! Let’s have more of these.
I didn’t stop
And here’s Vodafone’s offering on the occasion of International Women’s Day. It’s an inspirational story about Aditi Nundy, the first woman stock broker on the Kolkata stock exchange who bucked the trend, defied all odds and went on to build Dayco, her firm, into a huge successful enterprise. Superb photography and a fine script save a film with great intent from falling by the wayside.
Making children’s plans appealing
We know how children grow. And we know about the little pains of growing up. The bicycle feels too small, until the saddle is adjusted, the trousers too tight, the bookshelf appears too high until an elder lifts up the child and suddenly everything is within reach. These are the insights LIC, the insurance behemoth, and RK Swamy BBDO have taken up to create a competent little film for the Children’s Plans. Plans which, according to them, provide a good return and take care of the expenses that your growing child will, no doubt, need. A nice song adds to the overall look and feel of this TVC. Believe me, finding a new idea to show off these plain vanilla products can be daunting. Packaging them so they look appealing is a challenge. And this film rises to that challenge.
Eleven minutes
An extremely well-made anti-smoking film for the digital format shows Alok Nath trying to fulfil the last wish of his dying son. The wish arrives in the lovely shape of Sunny Leone but the young man dies before he can actually fulfil his dying wish. Great film craft, acting and art direction. I wish they had emphasised a little harder that the man was dying because of cancer caused by smoking. And I wish I knew who had got this film made. Truly, I missed that completely. It’s all very well to make the brand subservient to the message, but letting me miss it completely? Oh, apparently a packet of cigarettes shortens your life by 11 minutes, hence the name of the film. And in case the statistic interests you, the film has already got a whopping five million views on YouTube.