The 'other' side of advertising

So advertising just sells, isn’t it? What starts as a sales-pitch often becomes a part of our lives in some way or the other.  Call it the hallmark of good advertising, or instances where brands manage to make a lasting impression in our lives, there are always some jingles, some tunes, some images that we can never forget. Or hate. While logic, research and intelligence might continue to evaluate the benchmarks of ‘good’ advertising,  this is one sure-shot indicator of the fact that the brand has done its job – the moment it manages to reserve a few kilobytes in your mind. There are some favourites that I personally can never forget, that I grew up with, and that I would love to see on television even today. They had their fair share of advantage though, in terms of captive audience in a single channel and low clutter levels (as compared to today), but nevertheless they all had their own charm… the zing, the energy, the warmth. Here are some of the popular films / jingles we all grew up with…

 

-          Gold Spot: Kittu Gidwani & her roller-skates, and the guy vanishing from the bike… remember? The zing thing. Or, ‘diwano ka mazaa’ – the ultimate ‘youth advertising’ campaign of those times. As crazy as crazy as we’re about… Gold Spot! The Zing Thing! Gold Spot…

-          Rasna: Who can forget “rasna” while watching ‘Spiderman’ or ‘Giant Robot’ on doordarshan? “Ek packet se ban jaaye batteess glass… Rasna ka har zaayeka sabke man ki bujhaaye pyaas! Ras ki rachna Rasna 

-          Thrill: not many might remember, but this one is again my favourite. Mithun & Rati Agnihotri – the only time they featured (together or solo) for a TV commercial… “Hum tum aur thrill, gaaye mera dil…”

-          Pan Parag: the one with ‘Jalal Agha’ or ‘Shammi Kapoor’… famous lines, “ekkk se mmera kya hoga?” … “toh aap do lijiye”… and “toh mere liye..”… and the jingle goes like, “Pan Parag, pan masala Pan Parag…  Khatir-daari mein zaroori, iske bina mehfil adhoori - Pan parag, pan masala, Pan Parag!

-          Vicco Turmeric Cream: probably the only time we saw a young ‘Sangeeta Bijlani’ ever… be it cinema halls or the Doordarshan, who can forget the banno-song.. .” Bade naazon se paali hamaari banno, tujhe dulhan banaaye ree pyaari banno”

-          The classroom with Masterji teaching, “Bacchon, yeh hai hamaare daaton ki banavat! (looks around) Raju! Tumhare daat to motiyon jaise chamak rahey hain!” Yes, Dabur Lal Dant-Manjan, which ends of with a, “Masterji, aapke daant?”

-          ECE Bulb:  Ravi Baswani goes to buy a ‘bulb’. The song starts with his wife singing, Bhool na jaana! ECE bulb laana! and then there’s a whole lot of people talking in different languages asking him not to forget. There’s a parsi saying: Dikra, bhool to nai, ECE bulb lavjo! Don’t remember the rest, but it ends with… “Jyaada de ujaala (and the bulb/tube lights up in shopkeeper’s hand) din-o-din chalne waala ECE bulb aur ECE tube!”

-          Mile Sur Mera Tumhara (Pandit Bhimsen Joshi): this needs no explanation.:Mile sur mera tumhara toh sur bane hamaara… sur ki nadiyan har disha se behke saagar mein mile… baadalon ka roop-a lekar… barse halke halke

-          Lijjat Papad: the famous “khargosh”… karram kurram…kurram karram…mazedaar lijjatdaar…swaad swaad mein lijjat papad ….Sri mahila grih udyog ka Lijjat papad

-          Vicks ki Goli: Jayant kriplani narrating a story to Guddi baby… “mein tumhe khaa jaoonga”… remember? Vicks ki goli lo, khich khich dooor karo”

-          Doodh doodh… Piyo glass full: nobody would ever not know this… or for that matter, “Murgi Ke Ande” for NECC

-          Colgate Ka Chota Packet: super-peppy jingle promoting the chota-sachet… “kholo dabao, brush mein nikaalo..” don’t remember the lyrics clearly

-          Bajaj:  Jabh Main Chota Bachcha tha, Badi Shararat Karta tha, meri chori pakdi jaati….. jab roshni deta Bajaj..  kya rangeen jawani thi, ek raja aur ek rani thee… ab mein bilkul boodha hoon, goli khaakar jeeta hoon…”

-          Paan pasand: Paan ka swad, gazhab ki meethas!!! Shaadi – aur tumse? Kabhi nahin… yes, that one.

-          Thums Up: The conference room, serious executives… waiter takes order… remember? “Black coffee” says one… “black” says the 2^nd, “coffee” says the 3^rd… How boring & predictable… The smart guy (4^th) says, ‘Thums Up’… all the other nerds together look up and say, “Change mine to Thums up”… what a drama ;) Happy days are here again… food friends & Thums up!

-          Godrej Shaving Cream: Sir, which shaving cream do you use? … Bearded guy at last says, “ME?” The one bright spot in a man’s morning…. Kahan gaye ‘angrezi jingles & slogans’???

-          Kalpa: I’m sure very few might even remember this… but it was a ‘classic’ for its times. Smart positioning that failed. The jingle went like this… “Jo apne pasine ki khaate hai… woh…woh… Kalpa se nahate hai” – “Kalpa, Sabunon mein mard, Mardon ka Sabun”… Fantastic!

-          OK: when we are talking about saabun-classics, this one sure gets a berth! Joh ok saabun se nahaaye, kamal saa khil jaaye… Ok, nahane ka bada saabun! Fantastic!

-          Bajaj: Yeh zameen yeh aasman… buland bharat ki buland tasveer… visualize it! A real beauty.

-          Bullet: Yeh bullet meri jaan, manzilon ka nishan…., zindagi ek safar, chalna shaam-o-shehar, iski raftaar ki, baat hai aur hi.. yeh bullet yeh bullet yeh bullet yeh bullet! Very melodious, very hummable

-          Dharmendra’s grand appearance: Kabhi kabhi lagta hai aap mujhe jaante bhi hai, aur nahin bhi.. agar jaanna chahte ho, toh yeh jagah khaali hai, magar ek shart hai… agar aapki pasand bhi meri pasand, Bagpiper, ho toh. Khoob jamega rang jabh mil baithenge teen yaar. Aap, mein aur Bagpiper ;)

-          Videocon Washing Machine: It washes, it rinses, it even dries your clothes! In just a few minutes, you’re ready for the show…!

-          Natraj: aur yeh match ki aakhri gend, aur yeh laga sixer…. Remember? Natraj Pencils, khoob likhai, isne lambi umar hai paayi

-          Hawkins: Neena Gupta & her cooker! Hawkins ki seeti baji, khusboo hi khusboo udee, mazedaar, lazedaar khaana hai taiyaar… and all that :)

 

These are just some. Am sure there are many more you can think of. Coming back to the main subject, there are two dozen ways to analyse and criticize a good piece of work. Talk of relevance, impact, differentiation, SMP, insight etc… and there you have two dozen ways of killing a good, workable idea. One that has the potential to stay on our minds for over two decades. The above listing is just a proof of work that works. Don’t know whether they researched it, tested it, paid a market research firm etc. All that I know is that they have worked. And worked well. They’ve managed to engage and entertain. And when advertising does ‘just that’, sales is almost an assured after-effect.