When Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma (Virushka) feature together in an ad, you take a few things for granted: panache, playfulness and passion. Add playing pranks to that list.
The new Google Duo ad shows Anushka doing just that. Virat calls the wife for some help and tips because the director is demanding more ‘emotion’ in his performance. Lady Love readily obliges (lovingly calling him ‘Bubs’!) giving him a live tutorial on how to give a more powerful take.
She asks him to imagine that he is a beej (seed), then tells him to ‘grow’. Virat follows instructions most obediently. Anushka then tells him to imagine there is a toofan (storm) and to feel the paudhe ka dard (pain of the plant). Virat contorts his body in half gyrations trying to sway, and act the part. Then doubts start to surface in his mind, “Will all this really help Baby?” he asks helplessly. (Yes, ‘Bubs’ lovingly calls the missus ‘Baby’!!). And Virat knows he’s been tricked and taken! Lol. Finally of course, we realise that all this loving interaction has been happening on Google Duo, the highest quality video calling app. The end.
Well, the ad certainly has playfulness. But, both panache and passion are kind of forced. Panache is perhaps sought to be conveyed through Virat dressed in a black suit and a black tie (?). And passion comes through in the loving Bubs and Baby (?) references. My basic quarrel with the ad is that it is too presumptuous. It takes for granted that the app is the best in class and all the ad needs to tell us all is that star couple Virushka use it to call each other on video. Honestly, even to communicate just that, the ad could have been ideated and executed far far better. Sans clichés. Sans formulaé.
Actually, Virushka’s first ad for Manyavar kind of set the template for what shows them off best together. There was togetherness, there was tenderness, there was intimacy, there was empathy, there was understanding and warmth… and all of it rubbed on to brand Manyavar.
WATCH THE ADVERTISEMENT:
Virushka have done a kind of encore for Shyam Steel, a Kolkata-based brand with a set of three television ads. The campaign is not quite as visible in media but it is a campaign that does full justice to Virat and Anushka. It has all the elements of togetherness, tenderness, intimacy, empathy, understanding and warmth that I mentioned above.
More importantly, the mood is mellow and a certain gentleness, a certain softness pervades the entire communication. What that makes for is a beautiful portrayal of a couple in love. Virat and Anushka look relaxed; they look good together. Ad agency Rediffusion has done an outstanding job for Shyam.
WATCH SHYAM STEEL'S ADVERTISEMENT:
Another very different ad that caught my attention was a viralised communication on WhatsApp by Mumbai Roti Bank featuring the one and only Amitabh Bachchan. It is actually a very simple ad with Big B (full gravitas on show) just speaking into camera and rattling off some stunning statistics… that 195.5 million people in India are insufficiently nourished; that this amounts to 14.8 per cent of the population; that 1.4 tonnes of food goes waste every year. Big B then goes on to tell us about this Roti Bank set up by former Police Commissioner D. Sivanandan that collects any surplus food left over at an event and reaches it to the needy.
There is nothing ‘creative’ about the Roti Bank ad. It will surely win no advertising awards. Yes, it has Mr. Bachchan. But more importantly, communication has something most ads lack these days: a purpose, and a soul. The messaging is simple. The appeal is direct and impactful. The raison d’etre for the NGO is clearly stated. Commissioner Sivanandan needs to be congratulated for initiating and executing an idea that will vastly benefit the poor and needy. And, Amitabh Bachchan needs to be thanked for using his brand equity to support a worthy cause.
Back to Virushka. The famous duo need to realize that that their brand equity together is too precious to be wasted on rudderless, purposeless ads like Google Duo, howsoever global or premium the brand may be. They’d much rather conserve their personal brand goodness for a desi Manyavar or a Shyam where they look good and do good together.
(The writer is an advertising veteran)