We all unanimously agree to hate those darned advertisements and commercials that keep cropping up just when
~ the heroine is batting her eyelids and about to finally pledge her undying love to the hero or
~just when its the last over / ball of a cricket match or
~ just when they are going to announce the winner of “jhalak dikhla ja”.
But there are times when something in those ads attracts our attention. It may be the catchy jingle. It may be something humorous. Or, it maybe something nostalgic. Whatever said and done, sometimes the ads do score over the serials and the programs they intercept.
So, heres the list of ads that adds colour to my life :) Some from yester-years - the olden golden era ;) Some from the recent past and present!!
"They-dont-show-em-any-more "
1) Nationalistic Mile Sur Mera Tumhara
Not exactly a commercial. But this was a sort of a promotional ad on National Integration. A beautiful song sung in most of the Indian languages. The ad showed celebrities from all walks of life -sports/cine/fine-arts singing the song in their respective languages. If I were to write on it, it would require more than 7500 chars! I can only sum up in one line to say that it was indeed THE inspirational song.
2) Its-different-Bajaj lights -
I know I may sound like coming from the ancient times but the ad
"Jab main chota ladka tha, badi shararat karta tha,
Meri chori pakdi jati, Jab roshan hota bajaj."
is definitely one of my favourites. Was it the fast jingle or was it the innovative new ad of those times? I don’t know. I just remember that it was quite interesting to watch a small boy being caught reading a book under his quilt, a young boy and girl caught cuddling, a grandpa caught in the act of eating the cake – all thanks to Bajaj lights. Doesn’t it sound like “beware of Bajaj”?
3) The Mass Appeal with Surf –Lalita ji.
Excuse me for my "neanderthal" taste again. The ad showed a middle class housewife, Kavita Choudhary (of Udaan fame). She is shown smart enough to bargain well when it comes to buying tomatoes and onions or when it comes to outsmarting someone trying to dupe her. The whole ad is in the form of an interview of Lalita while she is busy engaged in her tasks!! She answers as to why she would go for Surf even though it is costly and how it is actually worth the money. This was at the time when HLL had hit a low point. The ad sure did a resurrection to their image. What I liked in the ad was the way it appealed to the general mass. Lalitaji felt like one amongst us!!
4) One-liner Amul – I am 2 old for ___, 2 young for ___
There were a series of this ad with the right words filling the blanks of this punchline. In one of them, a young teenage girl sings ‘I am 2 old for dolls, 2 young for the disco’, her elder sister (I think!!), sings back, “But I think you are just right for Amul chocolates”. Point driven, isn’t it? That reminds me of the one-liners of Amul butter too. Read my take on Amul butter for that ( wow, I am good at promoting myself :)
5) Tasty Rasna -
This ad was a huge hit when it was played right between the cartoon Spider-Man, shown on Sunday evenings, in the 80’s. It had a lot of kids drinking Rasna, and included one fat uncle who drinks a huge jug of Rasna. Jingle went like
Ras ki rachna Rasna Tarah tarah ke swaad ki rachna rasna RASNA!
Everytime they added some new flavour, the ad was twisted. The ad showed a cute girl called Ankita Jhaveri. She was one more reason for the ad being a hit.
Some more of those times which are unforgettable are "Only Vimal" of Reliance, "Tandurusti ki rakhsha" - Lifebuoy, "Vicco Vajradanti", Bombay Dyeing ads by Karan Kapoor and Lisa Ray.. the list goes on :)
“India Today”
1) Sensitive Complan growing up child.
Maybe because I am a mother myself, I just cant help getting into the skin of the mother in that ad. The recent ads show a mommy buying a bigger cycle for her son when she realizes he has outgrown it. The next moment, he comes cycling to her and asks her to sit behind him, so he can give her a ride – infact he asks her to hold onto his shoulder. The feeling of awe at seeing her son grown up is not hidden in her eyes. I simply love this ad because it shows that parents take time admitting that their kids are growing, isn’t it :)
2) Driving-to-the-point Fevicol.
A series of fantastic ads- that did full justice to the reason for their being there. Each of their ads made sure that it gets stuck in our minds that Fevicol sticks well. Whether it was the politician whom the crowd tried to pull down from his chair (but could not thanks to Fevicol that kept him glued) or the girl with pots stuck on her head which the playful boys tried to topple, the ads simply put across their message without saying it!!
3) Hilarious Pepsi
One of their ad shows Shane Warne and Carl Hooper, trying to kidnap Sachin. He is being chased around and he gets hit on his head (with birds fluttering over his head). At that point Warne exclaims "iski to gayi". When he gets his senses back, Sachin is being carried to the plane when he says, "AilA! Plane!!" Never knew he was capable of giving that hilarious expression!!! I found him quite funny.
Infact many of Pepsi ads are quite different. One more of theirs which I liked was the one that shows ShahRukh and Saif making a heart shape using all the cars in the parking, (for Preity Zinta, ofcourse) :)
4) The boy-n-piggy-bank Ad from Bank Of India
A grandfather in a remote village gives a small piggy bank to his grandson and asks him to take good care of it. The boy carries it with him everywhere. Be it while bathing, playing or to his school. Finally, he decides that BOI is the bank which can take as much care of his piggy as he does. I find the ad full of innocence and thats what touches me :)
5) Diamonds are forever
Let me admit, I love diamonds (make that I love ogling at diamonds unabashedly!!). So, how can I stop myself from liking their ads? There is this one advertisement by DTC (Diamond Trading Corporation, not Delhi Transport Corp please :) in particular where the mother of the groom is waiting for the just-married couple to welcome them into their house. She remembers how as a small boy, she had straightened his tilting cap and then later on his graduation day, his slanting hat. When the couple arrives, she notices that his turban is also tilted and when she is about to straighten it, her daughter-in-law does the needful (ouch!! did MIL really like it? You should read my review on DIL... Hey I am too smart at marketing ;). Anyway, then MILsays that she has given her "diamond" to her DIL. And the DIL gets a diamond necklace from the MIL... sigh.. lucky she ;)
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Some more from today as in Hutch - "You and I", Surf - "Daag acche hain", Faux Pax of Sony Ericsson...
So, all I can say is that "all serials and no ads, makes TV dull to watch". Cmon, everyone needs a break.
Which ones do you like?