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.

A helicopter drops the plywood box from quite a height, dramatically signalling the beginning of a war scene. You have slickly directed and edited scenes of army men locked in a pitched battle. Bullets fly around as they cart this box and run, dive, jump into water and take cover behind the “box”. Finally the battle-weary soldiers open the box which has a name on it that reads “Sainik Plywood” and you realise it has their precious mail. And the voiceover tells you that Sainik Ply is “ HameshaTayyaar ” or always ready. The DDB Mudra film for Century Plywood’s second brand, Sainik (lower on the price point, I guess), has high production values. The comparison to tough army men is also very apt. You have a fleeting glimpse of the line on the box that mentions it is water- and termite-resistant or words to that effect. The action film format works for this brand. I guess they couldn’t think of another way to show us the name of the brand. A tad difficult to believe that the army would conveniently allow them to brand their mail boxes with Sainik’s name, but then a little bit of creative licence never hurt anyone.

Little joys of life

There’s this little gem of a film on the digital media. It shows a struggling couple, an artist and a photographer, who go that extra mile to help realise the dreams of the other. Very well crafted, a great script, compelling voiceover, and well-cast actors produce a really well-planned film. More interesting: While the two-and-a-half-minute film meanders beautifully through a roller-coaster of emotions and good deeds, it subtly bring out the fact that it is so easy to click, upload and sell a variety of things on OLX. The script ends with a flourish when it says that true happiness lies in fulfilling the dreams of those you love, or words to that effect. I had gotten used to the jerky hardsell that digital classifieds platforms were churning out and this sudden change of pace is a welcome relief. And if it is a campaign, I’m waiting to see the other films in this series. Definitely worth a peaceful “ dekho ”. Tissues recommended.

The CM’s challenge

We have been watching with interest a couple of TV spots that have been appearing with amazing frequency on national news channels. The voiceover introduces itself as Arvind Kejriwal and speaks emotionally about an instance of criminality in Delhi. It appeals to the Prime Minister to either spend some time overseeing the law and order situation in Delhi or hand over the reins of the Police to the Delhi Government. It ends with an emotional appeal to the Prime Minister to visit the area in Delhi where the people are still very scared. Forget about politics and who is right or wrong. This column only deals with communication, and this was quite a remarkable piece of communication. Never before have we seen a CM launch a direct communication offensive against a Prime Minister, that too in his own voice. The use of a very even tone and an emotional appeal adds to the effectiveness. It would be difficult to ignore such a clever offensive.

Vox Pop: Regular reader Ravi Shankar writes in with his take on the Havells commercial for wires. He says he did wonder who the real target audience for such ads was. “While there might be a few folks who could insist on one or the other of such products because they are the boss, the great majority of us really don't have any say in what is used. I can’t imagine a builder would like to take suggestions or even listen, if we try to influence, what should be used. Having said that, I love the Fevicol and Havells ads”. So do we, Ravi, so do we!

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