Weekly ad roundup: June 16, 2008

I couldn’t get to watch TV for almost all of last week – hmm, doesn’t feel as if I have missed much. That’s odd – a week without TV should have made me go nuts by now. Caught a few ads during the Bangladesh cricket and some on the news channels.

Cholrmint: this was for the liquid-filled variant where a boy is propelled to the first floor by the gush of water from the mint (noticed that the VO calls this a candy). Typical of the category which seems to rely on on hyperbole to convey a product attribute. I guess Chlormint could never match the original paanwalah ad in terms of popularity. The end line ‘dobara mat bulaana‘ is a force fit to remind people of the paanwalah ad?

Speaking of liquid-filled candies, have you seen the Mentos viral done by BBH, London released last month. It is worth a look – great use of technology.

CentreFresh: the ‘zubaan ko lagaam do‘ thought is extended here. Didn’t find it funny at all. Is it just me? The ‘phir fail ho gaya‘ gag was last seen in the ’70s Hindi movies. And the ‘thappad‘ is the most common thing to convey rejection or portray a loser in our ads.

Maruti Suzuki: the kal-bhi-aaj bhi formula of VIP suitcase (circa 1994?) is back. I am a big brand with huge market share and I will prove this through my TVC. Also done by Amul, Chevrolet (‘Heartbeat of America). Nice jingle, great visuals (Rajiv Menon), should be popular and work for the brand. Don’t get me wrong – I like this ad – it makes Maruti owners feel good about the brand and non-owners go green with a tinge of envy. Poifect.

Also came across this cute ambient idea for Leica cameras, promoting their zoom function:

And these print ads. The Febreze one is based on a nice insight:

and the Heineken reminded me of Guinness at first glance!

Caught a glimpse of a well-shot ad for Frankfinn. Amazing how these brands pop up and go for an image change with one ad.

And there was Kunal Kapoor for Logan, wondering why people have a herd mentality. Noticeably, the wide-bodied platform is abandoned. The attempt is to strike a chord with the individuality promise. They also have a website going. The site encourages users to send in ‘But why’ questions and photos, hinged on issues ranging from serious (‘why is India poor?’) to trivial (‘why do super heroes wear undergarments outside’?). Is the ‘but why’ question asked to challenge one’s herd mentality or ask why should one compromise between features (‘get it all’) in a car? I think its falling between the two stools. Nevertheless, an interesting attempt in an otherwise ‘show the car, write a clever headline’ approach.

Which ones worked for you? Anything else that was outstanding?