Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Balance mind ! Scooter can wait!

Ad By: BBH

Try to convince them about balance !
TVS Wego is certainly trying to convince its audience about the balance feature that the new scooter has. The usual ingredient of an automobile advertisement are present in this ad too so as to make sure that it is served right. Handsome guy driving the vehicle, smart girl always happy to be pillion rider, interesting background music, beautiful roads that are seldom found in India, some crowd who are present on road for sole reason of ogling at girls (not the product) and last but not the least- the product itself. TVS Wego thrills everyone watching this new ad that highlights the USP of product as its balance. They create a pleasant surprise story that ends with telling the balance of vehicle as reason behind this setup. 

The ad starts with complete calmness when two couples are minding their own business and are being responsible citizens by stopping on the red signal. Suddenly, everything changed - the calmness vanished, the life of two couples turned into ego of two ladies, responsible citizens became irresponsible passionate dancers who even forgot their helmets for their passion of dance. Two ladies look into each other's eye and one look to other lady made the guy lucky. They realized that the men they have is better than the other one and each lady shows some move to other that how smart she is to do impossible things on a scooter. They don't care for safety, for traffic rules or regulations, for the guy who is actually riding the scooter when she is making all efforts to wobble it, don't even care about the third lady hand that comes in between. The point of focus in the entire ad and in the background music is that how proud the lady is about herself and her partner. The entire ad didn't talk responsibly about the product but instead was a clip to show the human nature wherein girls hold ego in front of each other and guys hardly care about anything whats happening on their back.

The dance poses, the moves, the flexibility of ladies indeed at the end gets justified when it shows that because they were on TVS Wego they were able to do all these tricks. But certainly, the concept is not full proof. If they had to highlight the balance, they could have shown one scooter supporting the feature and the other one failing to do so. When a vehicle is talking about balance, then the viewer is not interested in knowing that would he fall if he dances on the vehicle. He is interested in knowing if vehicle would be able to balance his body in difficult situation or in bad road conditions. The ad doesn't even show that ladies are proud of their vehicle, the way it comes across is that they are proud of themselves only. It only showcases a shallow mind of the riders in the ad and not specifically the balance of vehicle. Even if we ignore all these, an automobile company can not afford to miss on safety regulations like wearing helmet. 

When can't convince them, confuse them!

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Ad aches with Quakes !

Ad by: Times of India (Delhi | Gurgaon)

Once upon a time there was a NEWSpaper.

There were days when the pages of newspaper were flipped to know about the world. What so ever was small or big that was needed to be known to the masses had newspaper as its source. Today also the same pages are flipped but the purpose is not just "news", but also to know the exciting offers in huge stores in the vicinity, to explore the best travel packages in the proximity. The number of pages are more, the size of same is larger, the colors used are various, and also the list of sources for this content is humongous. When there is no constraint for relevant content then why the advertisements are only way to sustain. The blame is not to the advertisements that are using the space of newspaper but the blame is to those who portray the most significant piece of news as onus because of these advertisements. 

It won't need to check the boundary of own nation to understand the plight of fellow nation, Japan after the quake that shattered the power which was just below the superpower of the world. Each living thing present on this planet is by all means standing along with the nation in this time of pain. Our media sources are reaching to the places for us to know every bit of what is happening or what is not happening there. The front page of every newspaper on Saturday,12th March 2011 talked only about "Japan". But the front page was not the only page, and the quake was not the only subject for the mention. The 6th page of TOI, Delhi wherein 2 pages are dedicated for Gurgaon news (circulated in Gurgaon only) had a huge advertisement. The ad said "Japan Circle trip". The worse part is that this kind of ad (package of Japan) was never seen earlier and this day when the country is in pour of problems, there is an ad for tour. The technicality of procedure of placing the news and advertisements on specific dates is understandable but the people who run such powerful medium should know that what responsibility they hold. Even if the ad was blocked for particular date and section, there was no way that it couldn't have been stopped. It is a shame that even the obvious is complicated for people today and the humanity is just human business now. 

The ad should have been cancelled, if that was not possible, the circulation of paper should have been stopped, if that was also not possible, an additional note should have been given to explain it, if none of this is possible in todays world where solutions come before problems, then the easiest task would have been to shut the business. May be there should be a role of "Human sensitivity" in media house who keeps a check that humanity is not missing in spree of reaching humans. 

These days we have papers. 

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Break becoming Kitkat Break !

Ad By: JWT

Look for a break in life !
Nestle came up with a chocolate few years back and gave it a positioning which was very rare and very obvious at the same time. They say "Have a break ! Have a kitkat !" and none of us can deny that we crave for chocolate most when we are tired of the routine life.With this positioning they hit two targets- one of reminding people that when they want break they look for chocolate (mostly) and second of making Kitkat synonym to chocolate. So having a negativity associated "Break" is a rare act for a brand and chocolate is about having breaks is the obvious act. The same legacy of "break" and "Kitkat" is been shown in the squirrel ad which has been coming from almost an year. The ad is few of those ads that leave a refreshing impact through the ad story and through the product.

Two young guys sitting in a park with their laptop. One of them is completely engrossed in the work and is shown in a hurry, the other one is already exhausted and is wanting to have a break. It reminds to many youngsters their days when they have lots of work to do in a short time, so they plan to go to a calm and peaceful place (like a park here) so as to have better concentration. The exhausted guy takes a break by taking out Kitkat and breaks one stick in the unconventional manner in which Kitkat was previously shown breaking in all communications. The moment he enters this break, he is in different world. The world where smallest of things are so beautiful, so engaging and so obvious. All of us at some point of time when sitting idle have observed squirrels doing their acts. It is the most insignificant part for any one but if we look at it closely, it is the most significant thing which made us pass our idle time. The moment for that exhausted guy came to a stop, he could see what his still busy friend could not. The connect becomes even more close when the song and dance attached to the act has been the one which is a bollywood number that each and every listener has enjoyed with fun element inside. The ad doesn't irritate the viewer with information flooded about the product, it doesn't tell you to become the best person by using this product, it simply highlights the importance of small break which we all long for. 

Every element of the ad is rightly showcased to make it the obvious refreshing package. We all look for calm places, we all are in rush in our busy lives, we all crave for chocolates, we all notice squirrels, we all sing and dance along fun filled romantic bollywood numbers. Bringing all this obvious in front of us, Kitkat has certainly made a unique position for itself. And with this, for many, break is not just a break but a Kitkat break now. 

Look for a Kitkat in Life !