The latest Indian advertisements that clicked with me-2010

With the mushrooming of TV channels and even the unheard products trying Television advertising, it has become difficult for the consumers to decide what ads to pay attention to and what to ignore. This also leads some good ads to be overlooked due to uncontrolled exposure of the consumers to ads. But every now and then, there comes along an advertisement which freezes the consumers' attention. These ads are the work of creative geniuses and demonstrate that it is not necessary for an ad to be big in terms of money. Sometimes even the ads created with a small budget can do the job. Here is a list of some ads that came to my notice recently:

1) Cadbury Chocolate- Kuch Meetha Ho Jaaye
The first ad in their new series was that of a girl sitting on a bus stop and a guy coming up to her and asking for a bite from her chocolate. She says why should she do this favor to a stranger, then the boy replies that her mother advised him to eat something sweet before going to do an auspicious work. The girls gives him a bite and asks what auspicious work is he going to do. The boy replies with a smile 'I was thinking to drive you home'. The girl gets impressed and they exchange smiles.
The reasons why this ad seems to click is-

• The main characters in the ad are fresh faces, relating to common people.
• The ad targets the teen/youth crowd as the main characters look in late teens.
• The chosen faces have an innocent look, not making them look haughty and over-smart.
• The background music is very appropriate.
• The idea of the boy asking a girl out is innovative. All credit to the script writer.
• The length of the ad is optimum. It does not have an abrupt ending, and it does not stretch longer.
• Instead of relating the 'festive' spirit with their chocolate(like sometime back), Cadbury decided to replay the 'romantic' factor. That works well with youth crowd.

2. Ceat Tyres- The streets are filled with idiots
There are multiple ads under this campaign, but the one which grabs most eyeballs is the one where a moronic dad is talking on phone and walking his baby in a pram. He is blatantly walking on the wrong side of the road and it's the people, who are in right direction, are avoiding a collision with him. The man is so busy talking on the phone that he abruptly takes a turn on a very busy highway and starts crossing the road. But suddenly an unaware biker stops just short of a collision. The biker is scared to death and checks if the baby is okay. The dad, who had taken a stupidly wrong turn and was still talking on the phone, gives a dirty look to the biker and asks him in an authoritative tone 'Abey, andha hai kya?(Hey, are you blind)'. The biker is so shocked that he can't say a word.
A voice in the background says 'The streets are filled with idiots'. They suggest that you use Ceat tyres to keep yourself away from a trouble of encounter with such idiots. The biker's Ceat Tyres saved him, the dad and the baby by immediately braking, demonstrating their firm grip. Ceat is back after a ling hiatus and have come out with some cool ideas.

3. Idea Telephony- No Idea.. Get Idea
This campaign is a series of some very short ads. Each ad shows a customer of some other service provider irritated with the high bills, customer care or bad signal. Abhishek Bachhan(the brand ambassador of Idea) is with each of these frustrated customers. He asks them a question related to the bad service of their provider. The customer replies 'No Idea'. That is when Abhishek, with his poker face says 'Get Idea' and moves on. The ads may be short, but are innovative. But I doubt if they have anything to add to this, because after a point, they might become plain boring. It is to be noted that the former 'What an idea sirjee' ads were also well received.

4. Mc Donalds- Be quick, or Be Sorry
Now this series is very funny. They have the right central character who just fits the role. The first ad starts with the main character trying to practice grabbing things in a fraction of second. He does it everywhere, at office, at home and in his bus. People around give him weird looks due to his lunatic behavior.
Next scene shows him along with his 3 friends sitting in Mc Donalds and there is one last Mc Nugget in the tray. Each one plans to pick it, but the practice of our main character shows and he grabs it(and puts it in mouth) before other of his friends . The background voice says 'Be quick, or be sorry'.
The ad is catchy and the sounds the main character makes(as if he is in a kungfu fight).

These are all for now as I can't remember of more and I am feeling sleepy :p