Know Thy Breaks
Controversial Ads
Freshness Comes Canned & Curious
May 15th
Tag line: Cinthol. Chhodega Nahi
Client: Godrej Consumer Products Ltd
Brand: Cinthol Deo Spray
Creative Agency: Orchard Advertising
Sr. Creative Director: Hemant Kumar
Asso. Creative Director: Ajay Menon
Copywriter: Ajay Menon
Art director: Siddhesh Kulkarni
Director: Abhinay Deo and Shujaat Saudagar
Production House: RDP (Ramesh Deo Films)
Post production studio: MFX, Kuala Lumpur
Duration: 40 secs
Year: 2009
Story: Cinthol is back to reaffirm its brand theme– masculinity and virility – with its well known celebrity-led advertising. This racy, adventurous TVC features its new brand ambassador, Hrithik Roshan, a new baseline. This time, the feat-packed communication is for a product which has been a part of the Cinthol stable for almost five years, but did not attract many dedicated advertising attempts until now– the Cinthol deodorant spray.
Message: The TVC reflects the aura of Brand Cinthol and appeals to the youth, engage them, and express the most prominent characteristic of the brand– its ability to create ‘Unstoppable Confidence’. It has been positioned on the fact that the deodorant is long-lasting, effective for about 24 hours. Nobody wants to keep spraying a deo after every three hours, or before making an impression, and this product is to take care of this need. How better to say it than use the action hero himself, in a sweaty, messy act? (***)
Target Audience Connect: The new communication has a masculine tonality, but it is targeted at young adults who aspire to or have an active lifestyle. At the core of Cinthol is this alpha male who engages himself actively in the outdoors and he is able to do all that because he has the Cinthol Deo confidence. (****)
Execution: The setting, props, the look and the feel of being hot and humid in the desert is a good tact for a deodorant commercial. It’s a good concoction of live action, CG and SFX, tossed with a soundtrack which bears an unmistakable likeness to the sound pieces of Mission Impossible and Bond movies. But that alone does not ensure a great film. To give the film more character, more life should have been given to the deo can. Except for one shake to rid the sand off, the can itself was pretty lifeless. (***)
Freshness: The slogan ‘Don’t Stop’ with core brand values of Freshness and Confidence give the brand lot of power to move ahead. The product benefit – long lasting fragrance – isn’t altogether new, and virtually every brand in the category has strategized on that at some point. But do appreciate that this commercial doesn’t ‘force it down your throat’ like many others as it shows the product interact with its ambassador in an interesting manner. (***)
Verdict: Unlike many other celeb-brand cases where the celebrity becomes bigger than the brand, Roshan doesn’t wipe out the brand here. But it seems like an ad to promote Hrithik’s body and athletic flair as if he’s hosting Fear Factor. Also the ad can rebound on the brand if it confuzzles the consumer understanding the message as it shows that the deo is going behind our dear Mr. Roshan & he is ‘avoiding’ it. But the idea of the deodorant not parting ways with its user is interesting indeed.
JK Cement’s Ad Bruises the Brand
Apr 6th
Tag line: Vishwas Hai, Isme Kuch Khaas Hai
Duration: 10 secs
The ad opens with a young lady in a red bikini fully drenched in water, walking out of the sea & strutting her stuff. Then the VO says ‘vishwas hai, isme kuch khas hai. JK super cement’. I don’t understand the purpose of this ad. What do they mean by showing scene which is not at all related to their product? It remains unclear even after the ad ends that who’s promoting whom.
It is very rare that ads make sense and only few talk about the product itself, while the rest try to seek attention by whichever way possible.
This ridiculous advertisement, where nothing is said about the cement in question and only claims that the cement will be as good as the girl, is a simple case of notorious advertising. It is deliberate. More >
Rin vs Tide: Comparative Advertising Taken to the Next Level
Apr 3rd
Tag line: Rin, Tide se kahin behtar safedi de
Client: HUL
Creative Agency: JWT, India
Year: 2010
Background: The ad shows two mothers waiting at a bus stop for their children & carrying grocery baskets packet of Rin & Tide Naturals respectively. The Tide mother looks proudly at her purchase and brags about Tide’s ‘khushboo aur safedi bhi’ offering (fragrance combined with whiteness). The Rin lady simply smiles. When the school bus drops off the two children, the Tide mother’s boy is wearing a visibly dull shirt, while behind him emerges a boy clad in a stainless white shirt, who runs past the shocked Tide lady, over to his ‘Rin’ mother. To make things cheekier, the boy asks his mother, ‘Aunty chaunk kyun gayi?’ (Why is aunty so shocked?), where the word ‘chaunk’ could easily be a reference to Tide’s punch line, ‘Chaunk gaye?’
The voiceover concludes that Rin tide se kahin behtar safedi de, when it comes to whiteness, and at a ‘chaunkane wala‘ price of Rs 25, at that.
Comments & Insights: HUL could not arrest the decline of the shares of some key brands to the competitors like P&G , Godrej & the likes. This desperation has clearly manifested in the latest ad for Rin. No blurring of logos, no spoofing of competitor brand names this time. Comparative advertising is, quite obviously, not a new phenomenon by any standards, while it is almost formulaic for some categories. More >
