There is always an overflow of patriotic fervour on every Independence Day. Brands compete to go soft on this one occasion, ignoring and forgetting the usual year-long hard sell. This year’s best ad on the Independence Day theme has come from Parle-G. A film based on a real life story of Army man Ankit Singh from Satna. The idea itself is not new. The story of a soldier returning home. But the entire narrative has a very powerful overlay of sensitively written poetry.
Desh ki sarhad se
Ghar ki dahleez tak
Mausam guzar jaate hain
Bache, taasveero me bade ho jaate hai.
Ye arse baad ghar aate hain.
Tassalli jhoothi dete hai
Par kahaniyan,
Sachhi sunate hai.
Faulad se dikhte hai
Par bheetar inkebhi
Inssan hi baste hai.
Pehli baarish ki boonde
Inhe bhi bhaati hai.
Holi, Diwali
Inki bhi aati hai.
Jaha apni jaan pe ye khelte hai,
Wahan appeal hai na umpire,
Phir bhi ye ek dooje ke
Cheerleader ban jaate hai.
Par aksar in gumnaam chehro ko hum
Bhool jaate hai
Jabki ye kandho pe apne
Poora desh uthaate hai.
Ho na ho kuch log,
Desh ke
Parle-G ban jaate hai.
The sentiments expressed are simple, but the emotions portrayed are far more impactful. Not tearful, impactful. The entire commercial is very understated, but real. Very few brands manage to create communication that sincerely touches your heart. The Parle-G commercial does that in ample measure.
On the same sentiment scale, the ad by Bajaj bikes falls short by a mile. The ad is about ‘No Plastic Patriotism’, where the bike rider refuses to buy the Indian flag from a roadside seller because it is made out of plastic, and comes back from a long ride in the mountains to clean the litter created by an Independence Day celebration at a dhaba.
The entire commercial is very forced. Very plasticky. Very pat. The bike rider has no expressions. The commercial is beautifully shot, but has zero emotions, zero script, zero story, zero purpose, to the point where you are left wondering what indeed was the brand intent in producing this piece of creative, except tokenism.
Hariom Rai, the owner of Lava mobiles, sent me the Ziva Dhoni ad on Independence Day. Now, this at least is an ad with some difference. The #ProudlyIndian Lava ad plays on the chulbule versus bulbule confusion of young Ziva. Both Ziva and dad Dhoni act their bits naturally, and endearingly, as the dad corrects the young girl and gets her to deliver a flawless rendition of Sare Jahan Se Achha. The product and the brand enter the frame unobtrusively and the narrative remains focused on the father-daughter interplay. Nice.
The #HappyIndependenceNight ad by Vivo in contrast has far more drama, and melodrama. A young lady marooned in the middle of the night on a dark, unlit road with car trouble and low battery on her mobile helped by unknown strangers who not only offer her their Vivo phone to call home, but also help fix her car. The point being made is “only when it’s women feel secure can a country be truly independent”.
The glaring mistake in using ‘it’s’ instead of ‘its’ in the end super-irked me infinitely. Poor detailing. But more importantly, the narrative and the situations in the ad are highly exaggerated, and the ad itself has nothing to do with Independence Day though there is a forced attempt to play on ‘Independence nights’. Frankly, an avoidable expense in both producing and airing the commercial. And of course, the copywriter who made the ‘it’s’ mistake should be fired.
This week, there have also been ads from United Colors of Benetton and Manyavar. Both fairly predictable. Flat, without fizz. Gone are the days, and the era, of mega productions like Mile Sur Mera Tumhara. Independence Day is now more about tokenism, less about patriotism. I sometimes wish brand managers would rather donate the money budgeted for this annual overflow of patriotic zeal to a more purposeful destination. There is no point in forcing brand connect where none really exists.
(Sandeep Goyal is an advertising veteran.)