Addendum is a fortnightly 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.
Wrigley’s Doublemint is coming to India and to launch this, there’s a special film made by BBDO India. I know it’s an adaptation of an ad film made and shown abroad. I know the song is an adaptation of an old Hindi favourite. For me this would have warranted two strikes: Lazy and lazier. But not this time. If it’s an adaptation it’s a brilliant “Indianisation”. Okay, I like the English song ( I can’t help falling in love with you ) more than Ek ajnabi hasina se , but so what? It doesn’t take anything away from what I feel about the film. I’m a sucker for love stories. I insist on happy endings. Here you had the classic boy meets girl, falls in love. Then girl leaves for somewhere abroad but comes back to be together. In between, there’s great casting (watch that girl, she’s going places), great direction (Shoojit Sircar, take a bow), great story-telling. And though the Indian flavour runs through it, Josy and his merry band realise that this segment of youth in India are definitely not shy. And definitely are physical. And so the narrative is peppered liberally with love and kisses, but done very naturally and tastefully. And, of course, the product keeps appearing right through the narrative making sure it is effective advertising and not just creative licence. All in all, an absolute winner. I saw the over-three- minute YouTube version. My advice, watch this version and then sit back to watch the edited version on TV. Don’t let a client and media planner deny you the pleasure of watching the original version.
The right SIPs
I’ve always liked the Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund advertising. And I’ve noticed the company is a great believer in continuity, something I feel is very important to build a brand. Now it has a little gem that succinctly brings out the importance of different SIPs (systematic investment plans) for different aspirations and dreams. The film begins with a couple and their two sons in a shoe store. And the father, who is trying to make one pair of shoes fit all sizes, is a great example for the protagonist of many of Birla Sun Life’s earlier films to point out that it is easy to understand that you need different things for different uses, and so it is equally clear that you need different SIPs for different dreams. Short and sweet. Ajay Kakkar and the agency, keep at it! You’re doing just fine.
Sunday’s her day off
I’ve often heard people asking women at parties, “so where do you work?” And invariably the answer is “I don’t …” I’ve always said they work double shifts even if they don’t work in an office, and if they do, they are playing Supermom. So this film is for all those lovely women we know. The mothers and sisters and wives and girl friends. All true super women. They work hard. They never have “meetings” to goof off. They never seem to mind. But hey, they tire! Silently. And Colors, the GEC channel along with Publicis have created this lovely tribute to all the women we love. And Raj Nayak and Bobby Pawar have one simple request to make to all of us. Let’s make Sunday their day. Let’s take care of all the household chores, or any other work she does, and let’s indulge her in any simple way we can. God knows she deserves it. And this simple yet powerful ode of gender sensitivity is lovingly made into a film with a nice song in the background. We like it. And considering Colors has such a large female viewership, it’s not just creative indulgence. It’s very good positioning. But then we would expect that from Raj, wouldn’t we?
Vox pop: Commenting on our review of the Tanishq ad, Chitra Ranganathan Sharma writes, “Gender equality is one-sided, not even a consideration beyond coffee table relics on Sartre”. And on our suggestion that the film could have shown women gifting men gold, she says, “Disproportionate expectations”. And on our take of the Brosnan Pan Bahar ad, Nagesh Alai writes “Conscience is money for most celebs modelling for the wrong product so don’t be shaken, or stirred”. Thanks, guys and girls!
( Ramesh Narayan is a communications consultant. Mail your comments to cat.a.lyst@thehindu.co.in)