It’s 5 p.m., and after all the innumerable meetings you have been dragged to, it’s actually time to begin attending to your own work. All you need is a nice snack to recharge those flagging batteries and you are good to go. The friendly canteenwallah is a saviour. Today’s special, potato bonda , appears, steaming and crisp, and for those few moments, as you sink your chops into the fried magic, the world seems almost bearable. Familiar scenario? Of course, yes. All of us have gone through this a zillion times. And now GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare India and JWT are trying to change the script.
In a well made TVC, they showcase Shalini Menon, who could have been you. Going for gold in everything you attempt. The highest targets, the most well-polished shoes, the greatest work output and as Shalini reaches for her well-earned samosas , and you have identified with her almost completely, you are told that while you are Miss Maximium in everything else, you are Miss Minimum when it comes to the nutrition you opt for in your snack. And so, they offer you Horlicks Nutribic with the goodness of apples and the fibre from cereals. A quick, healthy and nutritious “anytime” snack. Just the pick-me-up the doctor and your mother ordered. Well, a clean, wholesome message delivered with the kind of clinical competence you would want to see in a film like this. No complaints. Very informative, well-made and well-targeted.
So then why are you still feeling a little low after this wonderful nutritious snack? I know. Think of the poor canteenwallah! And think of that steaming
Accept it. Everyone riding a motorbike is a hero. Or thinks he is one anyway. He might be the leather-clad biker on a Harley or your everyday commuter on a well, a Honda Dream Neo, but there’s something about a good bike under you that makes you think and unfortunately act, like a “hero”. And the ultimate hero these days is a superstar cast in celluloid, sounding like Salman in Dabanng and trying to act like him too.
So this is precisely the insight that Honda and Dentsu Marcom have brought to life in the new TVC for the Honda Dream Neo. The rider visualises himself as superstar in a film and the money lender, the traffic and the bad roads as the villains. And riding his dream with the tubeless tires, the powerful engine and the superb “shockers” (never heard ‘shocks” called that before), he can just glide past all these villains. And he even has a Mrs Superstar who turns down his offer to go watch a “fillum” because she likes their own fillum so much. Nice! Gets the message across rather effectively. And should really appeal to all those heroes-in-waiting who want to buy this bike that costs less than Rs 45,000. So next time a hero weaves past you or thinks the left lane was meant only for him, don’t lose your cool. Remember, you are in the presence of a superstar. And he is only living out his dream.
Awesome Nano
There are two girls riding in a Mumbai taxi pointing at a couple of Nanos driving by. There’s this man in a hurry getting off a bus before it can reach its stop. There’s this young lady buying a cake in what looks like an Irani shop and hurrying out to do something. There’s this guy who sneezes and transforms into a lady. There are three young men who jump off a heritage building in Horniman Circle near the newly opened Starbucks outlet (no, it’s not that they didn’t like the coffee) and turn into colourful balls. And there’s a magician who disappears after giving a little box to these young ladies who proceed to throw it on the road. (I would too if some creepy magician handed me a box on the road and disappeared.) Only this time the box turns into a Nano.
Did I tell you about the lady whose dress gets caught in the revolving doors? Well, she just steps out of it. Turns out she had a better one on under it anyway, and her hairstyle turns more bohemian for good measure. And finally there’s a lady, maybe the same one who peels off the surface of a Nano and you see the Nano’s got a better coat on under that too. No, the Nano doesn’t have hair to change its style. And before I forget, another young lady hits the poor little Nano with her guitar (how do you blame the car for the music?) and it disintegrates into a million pieces of something light and feathery. Oh, and yes, the lady sneezes (monsoon blues, you know) and instead of the cold vanishing (it’s not an ad for cold medicine) the girl vanishes and the magician appears in her place. He then clicks his fingers and bravo, the TVC ends. Where the hell was this joker hiding all this time?
Are you with me yet? I really can’t blame you if you aren’t. But I need to review this in full so let me plow on and say that through all this there’s this peppy music playing in the background saying something that sounds like “you’re awesome”. And if you wonder why anyone would show all this seemingly disjointed stuff that looked like what your friendly neighbourhood editor on a LSD high would put together, well the supers explain that you are celebrating “youness, kickassness, epicness, magicness and awesomeness”. And all this in flash-mob-with-a-human-pyramid-Govinda-is-coming style. Clear now? Oh brother! Now I’ve heard it all. Or rather read it all. I guess this film is only for English-speaking audiences. The regional language audiences probably don’t buy Nanos. I’m dying to see a translation of “kickassness” somewhere. Tata Motors and Rediffusion, thank God aapro Ratan retired before he had to sign off on this one.
(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. addendum.brandline@gmail.com Ramesh Narayan is a communications consultant.