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. Write in with either advertisements you wish reviewed or with your comments at addendum.brandline@gmail.com

The first time I saw this TVC, I stopped doing whatever I was doing and began to smile. When that happens, I know I’m on to a good thing. When was the last time you saw cinema icon Rekha in a TVC? When did you last see Urmila Matondkar in a TVC? No, don’t snigger, just think. Here is this car with some young cricketers on their way to the match, exchanging some irrelevant banter. And suddenly you see diva Rekha in the back seat and she’s in a foul mood, asking all the others to stop chattering, and take the sweat-stained gloves away from her. Just as you are getting into the mood of seeing Rekha shoot her mouth off like only she can, the driver offers her a Snickers and says that hunger somehow changes even the best of us. Rekha takes an angry bite and suddenly she has disappeared and another young cricketer has appeared in her place. The friends reach the destination and walk away from the car only to hear Urmila shouting at them and admonishing them. They reach for another Snickers as Urmila does the diva act to perfection. So yes, hunger can change the mood and personality of people. And RK Swamy BBDO and Pi films have really used this insight creatively and made this very entertaining TVC. The fact that you rarely see these icons is a plus point but takes nothing away from the innovative use of a real insight. I am not a Snickers fan (my wife is) but every time I get hungry I am going to think of Snickers! And smile.

Big Bazaar, big promotion

I keep seeing various promotions and marvel at what I will be offered next to buy something or enter some contest. Well, I am sure all TV serial fans must have entered the Big Bazaar Stylish Homes Contest. Created by Sonal Dabral and his team at DDB Mudra, the contest invited people to shop for home products and accessories at Big Bazaar, take a picture of their homes and send the picture as their entry for the contest. Celebrated TV couple Ram Kapoor and Sakshi Tanwar will call on the winner at their home. Incidentally the minimum purchase one had to make at the stores was just Rs 300, but the number of entries would have been awesome. Hey, how often does one get a shot (even if it is a very long shot) at getting celebrities to make a house call for Rs 300?

Parle-G for genius

Who hasn’t munched on a crisp Parle G glucose biscuit? This market leader has been one of those things we all associate with growing up, and O&M has decided that this is precisely the platform needed to cement the relationship Parle-G has with its audience. A well-thought-out campaign that began with teaser videos in the digital medium has entered phase-2 with the release of a TVC that essentially says that childhood is the best school and curiosity the best teacher. The films show little children creatively thinking and coming up with some amazing ideas. One certainly believes that a young mind is capable of great things if it is left unfettered. And that’s what this campaign is all about. It ends with a tag line that urges the audience to come forth and help create tomorrow’s genius. And this would lead on to a Web site where entries are sought from the parents of young and brilliant children. A nice idea, well executed. Now one hopes this does not make parents pressurise their kids. to be positioned as a genius. Well, it would be better than pushing kids to swivel their little hips on a dance reality show …

Center Fruit: all mixed up

As Indian cricket fans go from one low to another and faithfully turn up at every match to dutifully witness the last rites being performed on their teams’ performance, they certainly deserve to be entertained a bit. So there’s Perfetti Van Melle India’s TVC for Center Fruit Mingle that is glad to oblige. This whacky film created by the O&M team shows the completely unlikely and enjoyable scene of the batsman at the non-striker’s end taking a catch spooned up by his partner, and the umpire running up to him and doing a jig before declaring the batsman out. The commentator who is describing this scene suggests they are mixed up in something, quite like Center Fresh Mingle that is a combination of Pineapple and Green Apple. Suspend belief, and enjoy.

Happy Happy Like That

Srinivasan (Sundar) Swamy sent me a mail from RKSwamy Hansa. Expecting one of those dreary e-cards, I opened it to a find full-fledged song with proper lyrics, good animation and most of all, a good sentiment that said, let the little things in life make you happy all year. And that’s the sentiment I’d like to share with all you readers! May you all be happy like that, with all the little yet wonderful things that are all around us!

Ramesh Narayan is a communications consultant.

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