These Ads changed the Indian advertising world…
“Great content is the best sales tool in the world” — Marcus Sheridan
AMUL
Manthan
Amul is an acronym of the Indian cooperative society named Gujarat Milk Marketing Federation. Founded by Tribhuvandas Kishibhai Patel and later managed by Verghese Kurien. AMUL spurred India’s White Revolution which made India the largest producer of milk in the world.
This incredible journey of the founders of AMUL was adapted into a film by Shyam Benegal called Manthan.
This classic ad for AMUL called Manthan captures the spirit of this amazing journey that changed the lives of thousands of families in Gujrat.
Happydent White
Brilliantly bizzare
This peculiar piece of creativity gripped viewers for its brilliant execution of a bizarre idea. Helmed by McCann India under Prasoon Joshi and Directed by filmmaker Ram Madhwani, the idea of humans working as light bulbs won accolades all over the globe.
This commercial was listed by Bob Garfield of AdvertisingAge as one of his personal choices for the Cannes Gold in 2007, and it was chosen by a Gunn Report poll as one of the 20 best ads of the 21st century
The use of professional mallakhamba gymnasts as human lightbulbs made this ad feel weirdly authentic as their flexibility can’t be achieved by normal actors.
According to Prasoon Joshi, Trevor Beattie, one of the famous international admen from a competing agency wore a T-shirt with the lines “Happydent for Grand Prix”
IDEA
What an idea
This ad starring Abhishek Bachchan and conjured by filmmaker R. Balki gives a simple explanation for India’s growing population.
“From TV to Biwi” that translate into English as “From TV to wife”
Whenever there is powercuts, and TV is off, husbands turn to their wives for good time and end up creating little humans. After putting forward this problem, the ad also provides a simple solution.
Use IDEA 3G and go “from biwi to 3G”.
Ariel Matic
Share the load
This ad addresses the stereotypical division of labour with a simple question:
Why is Laundry only a mother’s job?
The idea is not something unique that other ads have not addressed. But, the “share the load” campaign conceptualised by BBDO Media utilise the experienced voice of an old man in the form of a monologue, who is realising his mistakes as a husband after seeing his daughter working in her husband’s place. He is not angry at his son-in-law for not helping, rather he sees himself in him, and his wife in the daughter.
The monologue of this ad is a great message for the youth to “share the load” and not be a burden on women around them.
Radio Mirchi
Rudali
Rudalis are the “professional mourners”, a professional native to Indian state of Rajasthan. The Rudalis were groups of women, mostly consisting of widows, whose job was to literally bawl at a strangers funeral. Ideated by McCann Worldgroup this ad tells the story of a group of Rudalis in which the younger ones find it hard to cry to the exasperation of the older rudaali.
The elder tries different methods to teach the younger ones to cry professionally. Throughout its runtime this ad tickles the viewers, while they are amazed at the existence of such a profession.
“Creative without strategy is called ‘art.’ Creative with strategy is called ‘advertising.” — Jef I. Richards
Cadbury
Cultural impact
Cadbury is known for its creative ads and marketing campaigns. The volume of their impactful ads is vast. However, I have picked their “raksha bandhan campaign” as the best campaign for India.
The reason for picking these series of ads is their cultural impact on Rakhi festival. This is one of the most important festival of India that is also quite unique as it is a celebration of the bond between brother and sister.
Oligvy India touched the emotional core of Indians with their beautiful portrayal of sibling relations. In fact, gifting a Cadbury Celebrations became a common practice during the Rakhi festival after these ads.
Surf Excel
Daag Acche hain
Lowe Lintas advertising agency under the supervision filmmaker R. Balki created this campaign called “daag achhe hain” for India. Surf already had a global campaign called “dirt is good” but in this Indian imagination they touched the emotional pulp of viewers which was different than what its rival brands were doing.
The other giants in the market like Nirma, Tide, and Ghadi all had brilliant ad campaigns but somehow Surf’s “daag cache hain” managed to surpass them and got engraved in people’s memories.
The key to their success was bringing a unique perspective to dirt and telling weaving heartfelt stories around it as ads.
Samrat Atta
Mit sakti hai ye duriyan
In northern India, there is a concept of Sanjha Chulha which means community cooking. Grey Group India conceptualised this ad on this concept of food as a uniting factor.
This ad beautifully shows that the difference of language, education, wealth can be bridged with a simple act of sharing food.
This ad hits product promotion bullseye by cleverly turning a basic need into a uniting act.
CRED
Rahul Dravid has anger issues
The wacky advertisements by cred stands out for its brilliant use of celebrities. Created by the group of funny writers including the likes of Tanmay Bhatt with the ad agency called Youngun for CRED, a fintech company.
The series of ads featured someof the beloved Indian celebrities acting opposite to their public persona. But, the best gig that stuck with audience was the “one where Rahul Dravid had anger issues”.
CRED ads has very much redefined advertising world by bringing back outrageous comedy in commercials.
Dainik Bhaskar
Zid karo duniya badlo
Social issues are an adman’s favourite tool and has been used since the beginning of advertising. Dainik Bhaskar’s “zid karo duniya badlo” ad campaign is no different. On the surface it is a simple reel conveying the message of gender equality is education.
Yet, its more effective than the most for its use of strong imagery. Adults fighting against injustice is common but children fighting against injustice is what moves the viewers.
“The best ideas come as jokes. Make your thinking as funny as possible.” — David Ogilvy
Google Search — Reunion of two old friends
Bridging boundaries
Perhaps one of the most emotional advertisement video ever made. Ogilvy and Mather explores the tragedy of Indian partition through two friends who by the tragedy of fate gets divided for decades.
Their longing for the lost time, when their little selves lived in united India with love and laughter is heart-breaking.
However, their grand children manages to plan their reunion with the help of Google. And the emotional moment when these two friends meet could melt a stone.
This ad is a masterpiece of emotional creativity.
Ambuja Cement
Ye deewar tut ti kyun nhi hai
The line “Bhaiya ye deewar tootati kyon nahin?!!” has become a part of popular culture. Not only this line, but the whole ad starring a hilarious Boman Irani as two estranged brothers- SR Thakur and KR Thakur is embedded in people’s memories.
Separated by a giant wall, desperately wish to get back together leaving all the grudges behind. They try every tactic possible to break the wall. From using hammers and other tools to bombing it down — the wall stands still strong.
The setup and melodrama portrayed in the one minute film is no less than a Bollywood movie. It is a comedy gold standard.
Mentos Evolution
Dimag ki batti jala de
The O&M creative agency under ECD Abhijit Avasthi and Creative Director Jignesh Maniar went the Pixar way and made a brilliant animated ad for Perfetti Van Melle’s Mentos candy.
The retelling of Darwin’s theory of evolution imagines a human as the slave of a donkey and how he becomes the master with the help of mentos.
Not only is this setup hilarious but also manages to tell an underdog story.
ICICI Prudential Life
Banday acche hain
Creating customer trust in the finance market is a difficult job. People love their hard earned money and won’t give it away to any corporation, no matter how old and relevant it is.
ICICI’s “bandey acche hain” campaign smartly recognised that people primarily love money because it protects their families and loved ones.
This particular ad celebrates men not just as resilient breadwinners but also as sensitive care givers.
Fogg
Fogg chal rha hai
Throughout this article, I mentioned many ads that became part of the culture through its smart visuals and catchy one liners.
Vini Cosmetic with the aid of the ad agency The Womb decided to take on one of the most difficult questions in the history of communication, “kya chal rha hai?” and provided a simple answer “Fogg chal rha hai”.
“Fogg chal hai” became a new favourite line of Hindi speakers and could be heard everywhere during this campaign.
Even the mention of this would create nostalgia for people who grew up with this ad.
Honorable Mentions
- Liril Girl
- Boost
- Nirma
- Everest
- Fevi kwik
- Center Fresh
- Bajaj
These ads prove that advertisements are not just a field of suited businessmen and are not just about selling products. It’s also a stage for shabbily dressed and perennially confused artists.
Taking two opposite thoughts and juxtaposing them into an eccentric short video, that becomes part of shared human existence is the most peculiar and amazing thing about advertisements.
No wonder some of the most ambitious and creative people have been associated with advertisements.
I know this was a longgg article. I hope that you enjoyed these brilliant ads and little bit of my writing.
Thank you for staying with me and reaching this far.
