Right here, right now
Advertiser: PepsiCo
Baseline: Jeena Hai Abhi
Agency: JWT India
4Ps B&M Take: Three stars in one advertisement… there is Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and M. S. Dhoni. And each one of them itching to seize the moment – while Dhoni on the cricket field and Priyanka on the glam stage, Ranbir Kapoor displays his impatience on the road, stuck in a traffic jam. The commercial goes on to showcase how Ranbir eventually dumps his car, runs to the nearest joint and grabs a Pepsi – because quenching his thirst is important to him in the here and now. Pepsi’s latest ad is slick, moves fast, and sends the message viz. the impatient generation is here who want things done and done fast. There are others too in the storyboard. Real-life youngsters who get a tattoo etched on their back when they want; people who run off for a day by the seaside when the mood takes them; and girls who paint their nails in eccentric colours just for the heck of it. The jingle ‘Jeena Hai Abhi’ is also catchy, extremely hummable and conveys the mood effectively. A fantastic ad if impatience was the only thing that the young generation was about. Because come on. Haven’t the youth already proven – through their marches against corruption and violence against women – that they care about life and society beyond themselves? Let’s stop talking down to the youth as they only care about the here and now. A clarification though. We have nothing against the communication, but the manner in which it tars all youngsters with the same brush as the impatient generation is a tad difficult to embrace in today’s India.
SCREW THE COUCH?
Advertiser: Ditto TV
Baseline: Now you can do it anywhere
Agency: Percept H
4Ps B&M Take: Don’t get us wrong. We are not sitting on any moral high horse. And contrary to what you may believe, we don’t consider sex to be a bad word either. But the Ditto TV ad does tend to hurt sensibilities – despite all of the above. Okay, but what is Ditto TV? It is an OTT (Over-The-Top) TV distribution platform from Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEE). Launched last year, Ditto TV allows subscribers to view content anytime, anywhere and on any device. Now while the service has already begun delighting consumers… their ads seem to be depending too much on the F word to drive home the message. Mind you, we loved the print teaser they ran in some newspapers in March 2012… Headlined ‘Screw the couch. You can now DO IT anywhere’, the ads were not only able to get the eyeballs for a convenience telly watching service of this nature, but also stood out for their creative and media placement appeals. But the question really is how much can you flog the sex horse? The latest TV ad once again tries to build on that old momentum and fails largely because of its poor execution. It begins with a graphic plate saying ‘Nick and Neha do it in the bedroom’ and goes on to show a metro-sexual male aka Nick wearing bright pink shorts and a pink bunny hair band entering the bedroom… only to find that his Neha is already in bed but with someone else. When the covers are removed, we find that the man in question is watching Ditto TV. Nick too gets into bed – and the ‘threesome’ tune in to Ditto TV together. The ad ends with the slogan ‘Nick and Neha love to do it. Now you decide where.’ Ease up on the sex angle darlings. Many youngsters still watch TV with their parents, remember?
DUMP THE HUSBAND!
Advertiser: Midea appliances
Baseline: Bring home happiness
Agency: DDB Mudra
4Ps B&M Take: The storyboard for this one’s for sure conceptualized, created and approved by a typical male chauvinist pig. Come on people, what a regressive take on a husband wife relationship in a modern, progressive India. So there’s an obviously smart, working wife who comes home from work… tired and cranky… she switches on the air conditioner with some relief. Except that husband dearest who is already home snaps into attention pronto and switches of the gadget complaining about the electricity bill. The wife gets angry – but only in her thoughts – and imagines pouring hot wax onto her husbands’ chest, peeling it off and enjoying his ensuing agony. And she smiles. But mind you, the anger was only personal – not to be shared with the high and mighty pati parmeshwar – who doesn’t give a donkey’s ear about the wife’s comfort. As we said, created and approved by a completely sexist egoist. Anyway, the ad continues. A voiceover comes on board informing how Midea Appliances help consumers save up to 50% on their electricity bill. All we say, if the message was energy saving, there were a million better ways to deliver. Wives… and sensible husbands… would boycott the brand, only for their pathetically chauvinistic take in this communication.
