Cadbury Celebrations - Diwali campaign - office

Toh Iss Diwali aap kaunsi ad re-run kar rahe hain..lol

Liked this campaign when it was launched perhaps a couple of years ago. Saw a re run of this particular Ad, not sure if the others in the campaign will also be re-run. Lucky recall bonus for cadbury in this ad featuring Richa Chaddha of Gangs of Wasseypur fame.

Smart I say....... ;)

The Unlimited way of life Tata Docomo

Loved this one. Offers exactly what for me a good Ad should have

- Brilliant story - You want to know what happens next, since all of us hate incomplete stories. And that is exactly what the product happens to be. See the  link between the product and the Ad? The product -  Unlimited plans which enable you to communicate to the fullest and complete every story The linkage is achieved in a direct and simple manner.

-  a scene that happens so regularly in our lives. Its so commonplace, people talking in their sleep and people around know whats going on in the mind of the person who is sleeping. Very easy to relate to. Poor souls like us who are under the pressure of our daily obligations. Sometimes that state finds its way by us talking in our sleep. This is portrayed here in light hearted manner.

In this particular Ad, a super performance and the suspense of who Mohini is and what is the guy doing with her just blew me away. I mean with the name Mohini, it is so easy to assume that the guy is indeed upto some mischief outside home. The wife and the viewer both anticipate him to reveal more of his wrongdoings. Then the anti climax. Poor guy is just talking of  the right ways of doing a boring job like  making a balance sheet

Love the touch at the end where the girl sitting next to him hits him with a magazine. She of course is relieved but hits him for giving her a few anxious moments initially

3-film TVC campaign for Tata Motors' Commercial Vehicles

All in all perhaps a good premise - each of the 3 ads tries to play on one theme. I have tried briefly put it down here.

- Tata commercial vehicles being responsible forgetting the people the stuff that they want from anywhere   across the country
-  Value system of the Tata motors commercial vehicles  is comparable to that of  a super hero, and through these values it is capable of changing the course of things, is available when needed and ultimately is a catalyst for helping those who are aspirational to convert their dreams into reality
-  through effective service set up makes life easier for the people who drive around in them, are away from home

Just one thing that I dont understand about this campaign. The voice over. How is using Farhan Akhtar's voice as against a regular voice over artist more effective for this campaign. The ad is not talking to young college students or the upwardly mobile urban professional. These Ads are talking to Small to medium businessmen,  transport operator corporates, and drivers. How is Farhan Akhtar's voice making any incremental or differential contribution in communicating with this audience. And I hope not a significantly higher amount was spent on getting Farhan Akhtar to do the voice over

Nirma TVC - the ambulance one

Hema, Rekha, Jaya aur Sushma.. sabki pasand Nirma..... Firstly, the new lyrics on the tune of the old Nirma jingle fits very well.

Story and the message of the Ad??. Well, seems periliously similar to the Surf Excel Daag Acche hain premise. Agar daag lagne se kucch accha hota hai, toh daag acche hain. These women are prepared to get themselves and their clothes dirty for a good cause of getting the ambulance and patient in it out of trouble. Thats my first observation, the premise is not original

Secondly, In real life, if there is a light threatening situation and if people are expected to do less complicated stuff to help, like pushing a car, then they do jump in. Irrespective of whether they are women who use Nirma or no. This story which tries  establish a link between a detergent  and life and death situation seems unconvincing.

As opposed to this story, the Daag Acche hain ads by Surf Excel has light hearted stories involving kids who get their clothes dirty for  simple, good reasons in the course of their daily lives. and its more relatable since its kids who more often get their  clothes dirty compared to adults.  

What is this Blog?

This blog will record my short, candid reactions on Advertisements, mostly TV commercials - their plots, stories, characters. Sometimes I am blown away by brilliant Ads. The insights that the Ads bring out by combining a creative script with sharp and crisp dialogues, superb performances and the right technical execution.

Of course there will be Ads which are poor in quality because the STORY is not imaginative enough or the performances are not good enough. Although with the production values of the present Ads,  performances and execution would hardly be reasons for an Ad not being impressive enough. So the culprit mostly is lack of a good story. An Ad is ultimately a story being told in 30-45 seconds. Of course the purpose of both Ads and movies as stories is different and therefore the handling is different. One thing though common is that like movies, many times we come across Ads where the story, the concept, the reason to buy a product is "inspired" by another Ad..

Through this blog I will sporadically talk of what went through  my mind when I saw an Ad, why did I like it, why did I not like it. If I liked it  whats at the heart of the Ad, at the core of it and what is that part of the Ad which links  story of the Ad with the product and its features that its trying to sell.

Sometimes some ads are not so good, they can shock or surprise me with their mediocrity, and I will react to them as well.

At then end, would just like to say that everything here will be personal and spontaneous. I want to keep this simple, either I will like it or not. It will either be black or white, no grey. No paralysis by analysis, no detailed posts. Will of course put down the major reasons of why I reacted to a certain Ad, a certain story the way I did.