Aides+TBWA - Just plain talk...

Pls wait if its taking time to buffer,, and have your speakers on.. !!!!

This is one of the most discussed video for the last fortnight.. It has raised many an eye brow, have taken debates about sexuality into a new level… It had some superb factor in it that can kick start a conversation among people who takes it as a topic to be conversed and fuel a controversy among people who see a controversy even in a drop of milk. This commercial was realised and released for Aides- a French association fighting AIDS by TBWA Paris …..

Controversy but then is the other name of TBWA- be it in the Beijing Olympics Chinese pride ads vs the Amnesty international ad showing the Chinese torture of its athletes both at the same time done by TBWA or be it the 'Pincha la Rueda de Hamilto' or the Burst Hamilton's tires or recently in India the Haagen-Dazs India and its “Access restricted only to holders of international passports” ad and the acrimonious client walk out after the beating…

Funniest advertisement it is, but it is an eye opener.. of course I don’t agree to the suggestion that wearing a condom works like magic or even a magnet that draws to it the female sexual organ, which in a way encourages promiscuity but yes the protection factor is well depicted… We have seen much about AIDS awareness and not many are so open and so very piercing…. Needless to say that graphics and animation is just brilliant. It may be notorious, even be enjoyable, for some it may be detachable but for me it is distributable and most importantly something that will be effective on a wide range of targets…..

Now such messages that suits the audience in other places as well needs to come out, and use the new media tools as well to keep hitting the targets and keep the conversation going and even augment it..

For the time being but three cheers to the awesome team work, and taking advertising as an art and for the simple plain talk..... and hey -thanks to good friend and brother- Rajiv Rajan for sending me the links required ....

Credits

Agency: TBWA, Paris
Client: Aides
Executive Creative Director: Eric Holden
Executive Creative Director: Remi Noel
Art Director: Ingrid Varetz
Copywriter: Ingrid Varetz
Agency Producer: Virginie Chalard
Agency Producer: Maxime Boiron
Production Company: Wanda Productions
Director: Yoann Lemoine
Music Company: AOC Productions-Paris & NY

Wheel detergent- Of Salman, songs and some smell !!!

Ad agency: Lowe Lintas Mumbai.
Production House: Chrome Pictures.
Actors: Salman Khan, Prachi desai
Singers: Mohit chauhan and Mahalaxmi iyer

Salman Khan has always been my favourite, not only for his acting, or I must say in spite of his acting (?) but for his style and stickiness and the naughtiness that he seems to be made of, from top to bottom.. he is like the proverbial wine, getting better with age,,, and even at the risk of repeating a cliché I must say, he is the one who made every other hero run to the gym and hit the machines to develop a bulge here and a muscle there… he is also known for his women (the numbers are quite arguable) and when seen with a small time actress Prachi Desai it is quite amusing…. They are in a relation here albeit to sell a detergent powder though…

The fans of Sallu ( as salman is called) is going aha-oho over the actors chemistry with small screen diva Prachi Desai (who is just half his age and who had done a semi hit film with noted actor Tushar Kapoor in ‘Life Partner 2’ sequel) ….

For the first time we will be seeing the mega star in detergent ad… for that matter if my memory is serving me right, it’s the first time ever that a star of his stature has come down to endorse a detergent powder, the closest was when SRK sat in the bath tub, which by now and by every ones acceptance, was a mistake. Well what he has to do with a detergent? Apart from accompanying her as a partner and running around with his HAII’s that he delivers well… ( “Hum dil de chuke hai sanam” – the class movie is where again I am reminded of his romantic HAII’s which women loved..) He is not
(Thankful are his male fans) seen washing clothes which if he did, women would have said, If Sallu can why not you?

Fearless to appear in a detergent ad, Salman even felt proud to be associated with the brand, the actor stated and I quote “I am extremely proud to be associated with one of India's oldest and most respectable brands. Wheel has become a household name, and has a glorious history of many years.”* (* as seen in the net )

Except for the unexpected pairing,( most startling pairing I must say), and an even unexpected voice over by Salman himself this ad is nothing great to write a review about.. I don’t call it another lazy ad- where they thought that ‘the lack of creative brains can be hided by an out of the blue celebrity’… Salman is not seen endorsing too many stuff- vis-à-vis an SRK and hence that can be a differentiator..(if at all he has come for- Thumbs up ,Red tape and the likes, it was to harp on his macho man image)… Wheel once stood for strong washing (remember the old ads where a muscular pair of arms squeezes and squeezes a poor piece of cloth? And Sallu being a strong guy ( the strongest of all macho men) makes a strong connect but then when one see the ad, it is not the factor that the ad makers are wanting to capitalize…Then what is it?

The laundry market in India is estimated at approximately 2.5 million tons in volume terms and at about Rs. 55 billion in value terms. The category, comprising of detergent bars and powders and laundry soaps, has near widespread penetration. Statistics show that more than a million washes are carried out in India everyday, which is approximately between six and seven washes per household per week (Source: Habits & Attitudes Study) The laundry market can be broadly classified into three segments on the basis of price per kilogram and also the benefit they promise.------The low-priced segment, the mid –priced and the premium segment..

The low priced one comprises of detergent powders that are priced at an average of Rs. 19 per kg and offer a basic clean. It is the largest segment in the laundry market and a lot of dynamics happened there in the last few years.. Frankly I have got amused when brands cut price and move up and down the segmentation ladder.. As recently as March, P&G increased the grammage of Tide there by again starting the price war and segmentation confusion….Wheel started off as a cheap stuff (read as “cost effective or value for money”) then later on started talking about “being hand and cloth friendly” ( attacking Nirma) and then to “giving stronger wash” to scuttle the perception that its just too soft and then the ‘energy and power factor” and then the “Khushboo or smell factor”, and now a lot of romance as well…Now he among the Khans is the one who stands closest to the masses and that seems to be the only rationale behind the choice….

Sallu would have been a right choice if the endorse’rs personality and the brands personality match wasn’t a factor, but then having said that I am sure that the ad will be seen , noted and hopefully people will buy more of Wheel because their hero seems to be suggesting so.. Till the results come lets take a break…..

NB:- Sweet heart Kathrina, left Dyna and now is with Lux , in its big chain of stars, and Sallu bhai selling a detergent powder..... one is climbing the ladder and the other one?

The Fun Gun !!!

Yesterday, scientists in the United States revealed that beer contains small traces of female hormones.

To prove their theory, they fed one hundred men twelve pints of beer and observed that 100% of them started talking nonsense and couldn't drive.....................

Forgive me women and Men have fun !!!!

Camlin permanent marker - Perpetually amusing !

Sometimes, television commercials can be so hilarious that we favor to stay back on our couch during commercial breaks, and go for the lavatory, during the shows we’re trying to watch. Camlin Marker – Vermillion ad entertained me a lot from the first time I saw it to every now and then when I use it in lectures and training to drive home the point why ads should be simple, precise and direct….

It opens with the information that in India, vermillion, bangles and a locket are signs of a married woman, and that when a woman loses her husband, she is stripped of these symbols. The husband applies vermillion to a wife’s forehead daily as it is supposed to be connected to his lifeline.

Right from that opening note to the rudalis (professional mourners) who were waiting for the man to die to the man who dies and then comes back are awesome in their expressions. And then the flash back which says why and how the vermillion got fixed there and then the man’s dramatic come back..

It has won hell lot of awards, both in house and outside but more than that it for sure has helped the brand in its branding and sales…

The concept is so Indianised and the execution is brilliant... Everyone from the miserable deadpan expression, makes the start look like an award film but in the end one can’t help but laugh. A serious situation is turned around with such ease and the climax proves the rule that the last 10 seconds is very important…kudos to Lowe and the team who made Camlin brand....Hence this ad becomes the first of the perpetual amusers in adformula….