Having written my take on the Sprite advertisement, I thought I should also try and jot down my views on the Mountain Dew advertisement, on which the Sprite ad was targeted.
Some things just do not serve any purpose. You can think till eternity what their purpose was, and still be left wondering on the other side of eternity. I can think of a dozen things which fall in this category of not serving any purpose. As for my dear wife, I head that list. But that is a different story! Take for instance, this campaign of Mountain Dew...
Let me say at the outset that this was one of the worst made ads. Either the makers turned a blind eye towards their professional duty, i.e. giving the money’s worth to the manufacturers, or they were trying to come out with something supremely ambitious.
THE ADVERTISEMENT
This is a campaign and has around two to three different commercials. The common thing in all these commercials is the group of boys out on a safari. They are generally roaming around, shouting- Do the Dew!
Let us analyze one of the the advertisements, with my comments in the brackets.
The common thing in all these commercials is the group of boys out on a safari. They are generally roaming around, shouting- Do the Dew!
(Excuse me....what does this line mean, by the way? Do the dew- hmm! Are we supposed to join the company in manufacturing this drink?)
One of the commercials shows a cheetah running in all its gusto, and one of our models following it on a bicycle.
(Bicycle? Bicycle?? Jesus...somebody give me a break!)
Finally, the lad jumps on the cheetah and traps him.
(What do the makers think we are? Baboons?)
Then he puts his hand inside the cheetah mouth...straight down to his stomach, and pulls out the bottle of Mountain Dew.
(I am sure they think we are!)
Bad Cheetah- he says.
(Ok...so they want us to nod in agreement!)
The other guys watching him say to each other- Cheetah bhi peeta hain!(Cheetah also drinks it!)
(This is news for me. So Cheetahs actually drink cold drinks by gulping down the bottle! So what are we supposed to do...follow suit?)
Then they show the cheetah with all the spots gone except for a few spots which spell out- Do the Dew.
(He was educated at the Cambridge University?)
Huh? What do you get from this advertisement? What is the consumer likely to gain by buying the product?
Well, as for me, I draw a complete blank.
MY ANALYSIS
The commercial fails to follow some vital rules of advertising. There is absolutely no brand positioning. Which bracket of people is it targeting? What benefit is it giving you? What is the taste? Does it quench your thirst? Does it make you feel cool? Is it refreshing? I, for one, got none of these answers from the commercial.
Secondly, their models seem weird, running around jungles with colourful clothes, jumping on cheetahs and shouting on top of their voices. Now, who will like to drink what weirdos drink? Count me out!
So...the ad has no benefit. The ad fails to identify their target audience. The ad fails to raise your curiosity.
That, according to me, is a bad advertisement.
Well, I guess that cheetah tried his best to get rid of the potion which instigates such lunatic people! Though he did not succeed....let us all learn the lesson from him.
Don’t dyooo it anywhere....
IN CONCLUSION
After a lot of thought, I did find something that this ad does score on. It can become an ideal lesson for advertising students as to how a commercial should not be made! Now just take a break from my ramblings...and well, have a Sprite!