Here’s Another Reason…
Here’s another example of advertising that’s making me lose my faith.
A few days back (Wednesday, to be specific) I stumbled across an “article” in the Bangalore Times which was apparently written by Saif Ali Khan himself. Something about how he was looking for a mystery woman… someone he’d lost touch with since his childhood. Now, we’ve seen enough of these fake news-advertising things in the recent past to take them too seriously. And when they appear in the Bangalore Times, they don’t fool you for a minute. So I just supposed it was for some new movie or show of his and thought I’d wait and watch.
- Day 1 – Wednesday
The following day, I read story No. 2. A distraught Saif has still not found her. Ah, well…
- Day 2 – Thursday
Day 3 is already close to revelation. Yes… just a 2-day teaser. This one asks… no, tells me to watch television to know more about the mystery girl.
- Day 3 – Friday
So, like any good, naive member of the audience, I obeyed and watched. And this is what I got.
Now, I don’t think I need to explain myself anymore. But then again, the advertisement’s got people raving, so maybe I do. This whole advertising gimmick thing was for the Airtel DTH service. The promise? Crystal-clear display quality so that you don’t miss any details. In this case, the detail was a butterfly pendant a young Saif gives to a young Sarah which then becomes the identifying, reuniting symbol. Somehow, we never seem to outgrow the old, Amitabh Bachchany, Bollywood narrative.
The whole thought process is just so convoluted and all-over-the-place that I forget what the ad’s about before I realise what it’s for. And then it ends with the whole Saif-Kareena turn of events. Which is wrong for two big reasons. One, if there’s anything people like about this ad, it’s probaly the sickly-sweet, nostalgia inducing love story. So people expect a happy ending… boy looks for girl, boy suffers, boy misses girl in crowd, boy finds girl through the magic land of television, boy meets girl again, boy & girl walk into sunset, the end. No Kareena. Two, everyone is sick of advertsiers commercialising their relationship so much. Head & Shoulders did it, some Lays ad did it, Airtel’s already done it… we get it! They’re together… now move on already.
I’m really trying to find something good to say about this ad, but I don’t have the strength for that kind of work right now. You’re free to give it a shot.
I have something good to say about this ad.. the music is very touching and the too cute child actors have done an amazing job!
Aniket
August 23, 2009 at 2:45 pm
Thanks for the comment, Aniket.
betweenthebriefs
August 23, 2009 at 2:48 pm
I haven’t seen the other ads involving them, but this (music included) already makes me want to barf.
Rashmi
August 23, 2009 at 7:49 pm
You haven’t seen any of the other ads with the two of them together? They were all over the place initially… then they slowed down a bit. But it’s still there.
betweenthebriefs
August 23, 2009 at 9:31 pm
I agree with you…Their is nothing positive in the ad.Saif keeps seaching for his childhood friend and when he finally finds her,leaves her in a flash for Kareena who comes in the middle….It ends with a negative thought in mind.Wonder what the branding team wanted to prove with this…
Dev
August 26, 2009 at 4:41 pm
I guess sometimes we just lose sight of what we started out with in the first place.
betweenthebriefs
August 26, 2009 at 9:48 pm
[...] Not everyone likes it though. As far as the pre-launch hype is concerned (Saif and his long-lost love stories on Bangalore Times), I am not too sure if it added any value to the main commercial. Such teasers, supposedly meant to create some shock value or talking point usually fail to the connect with the main event or launch ad. The connect is usually so stretched that it leaves the viewer disappointed. [...]
Airtel Digital: bitter sweet — Bhatnaturally Bhatnaturally
August 26, 2009 at 11:00 pm
Thanks for the ping back.
betweenthebriefs
August 27, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Why should it take 1:34 seconds to communicate about Quality picture? The picture quality might be the best, not the ad.
The teaser was even worse.
Sriram
September 4, 2009 at 2:10 pm
True… seemed to call for a lot more in a lot less.
betweenthebriefs
September 4, 2009 at 11:34 pm
Well, I tend to differ from you. I agree with you that they were all over the place with their initial ads (Lays,Head n Shoulder) but none of those ads were registered in the mind. Its only after I read your blog I recalled those ads. The airtel ad is not to be missed though, my reason the music is great; thats what caught my attention. Moreover the teasers in newspaper aroused my curiosity.
From an ad makers point of view you might say yeah, they took too long to convey “clear image” message. Agreed, but thats just the 1st/2nd week after that like any other advertiser they curtail it down.
Nilanjan
September 10, 2009 at 3:21 pm
Thanks for your comment Nilanjan. I guess the song worked for a lot of people.
betweenthebriefs
September 10, 2009 at 9:27 pm
if the initial press releases had kindled the curiosity of people….i am amused!! hahah..well the initial part of the tvc was really well taken, neat and nice (to the point)…it was a bit too much with the kareena twist at the end…could have been better without it!
Guru
October 5, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Thanks for your comment, Guru.
betweenthebriefs
October 6, 2009 at 10:04 am
[...] charm Aamir and Gul managed to bring in for Tata SkyPlus or even the convoluted emotional hook the Airtel DTH ad thrived on. It’s got someone who’s supposed to be a force to reckon with and [...]
Love & Life… Direct to Home. « Between the Briefs
December 13, 2009 at 11:25 pm
I didn’t really know about their promotional efforts before the commercials were launched but at least these commercials kept the audience interested.. so that kind of works for airtel in this case. It is a departure from their earlier ‘come home to the stars’ (which did not speak of the product at all!) campaign to a more feature based campaign (picture clarity)… although i too agree that Kareena’s entry in the commercial was probably not required
Sidharth
December 28, 2009 at 3:07 pm
Sidharth, thanks for your comment.
Yes, I agree the ad kept a lot of people interested. I wish I could be one of them, but it just didn’t work for me. Just curious to know… did you like it personally as well?
Also, although “Come home to the stars” didn’t speak for the service really well, it was launched at a time when all DTH service providers had drawn swords at the same time. Incidentally, those campaigns then became the ones that set the tone and theme for the ads that were to follow for the competing brands. I suppose the only brand that got this right and maintained a consistency of sorts was Tata Sky, that was also carried it across Tata Sky Plus.
I still feel, though, that the same proposition (“Come home to the stars”) could’ve been extended across the newer ads and been done better. But that’s just me. However, if the need did occur to change the direction, I just didn’t think this campaign justified it.
(P.S.: Found “The Marketers” really interesting. Do you run this independently?)
Shikha
December 29, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Shikha.. from a marketing angle I didn’t like it cause at the end of the advertisement, I don’t think the product registered with me (only the story in the ad did). From a normal ‘Sidharth’ point of view, I didn’t like it.. cause this guy keeps carrying around a photo of this girl searching for her and when he finally finds her, he doesn’t approach her cause he sees a prettier girl walk by.. I don’t know how that logic got approved!
About the “Come home to the stars” campaign.. I didn’t actually like that too much either. See, for me, the benefit of having celebrities endorse your brand is that the brand inherits the qualities of the celebrity itself e.g. Tiger Woods is a high performer so it made sense for Accenture to have him to be associated with high performance, or Ranvir is a youth icon of sorts, so it makes sense for pepsi to have him
With the airtel ads, I don’t think this was the case. Having A R Rehman, Saif, Kareena and Amrita Arora in the same ad (along with gautam gambhir, zaheer etc. in the other one) didn’t make much sense to me.. But hey.. that’s just me!
Sidharth
December 29, 2009 at 5:39 pm
Agreed. I guess what was missing was one personality the brand could fall back on.
Shikha
December 29, 2009 at 6:22 pm