Full circle

Addendum is a weekly column that takes a sometimes hard, sometimes casual, sometimes irreverent, yet never malicious look at some of the new or recent advertisements and comments on them.

The concept of tea and talk is rather common in most Indian States. Tamil Nadu might opt for kaapi and chat but generally the idea of tea blends in with social interaction and the one common ingredient in this scenario is a plate of biscuits. The idea can be adapted to any situation. A meeting in an office, the classic adda in a restaurant in Bengal, a group of friends in someone’s house, a kitty party. You name it, it falls into place like something natural. A circle of friends, some tea and biscuits. And that’s what Parle has capitalised on for its venerable Parle Marie biscuits brand. A series of situational films all built around a circle of friends and the irreplaceable tea and biscuits. The series, created by Everest Brand Solutions, captures the mood of most of the situations rather well. The direction and casting is spot on and the very brief films convey their message effectively. The natural scenarios and the fact that it is so easy to relate to these scenarios helps hugely. It’s just what you would expect. Nothing contrived, nothing forced. The young ladies cutely suggesting sharing a husband might be a tad exaggerated, but I guess that is the creative licence one must provide to the film maker.

Now let’s have one more film set in Tamil Nadu or Karnataka with a plate of Marie biscuits and some kaapi please.

Great, not good

We’ve all heard the line “good is the enemy of great” but in the hands of a skillful team it really acquires a meaning of its own. Bajaj Finserve and Ogilvy have created this rather good-looking TVC with the inimitable Naseeruddin Shah speaking about “going for great” rather than trying to be good. Somehow when you get a great artiste like Naseeruddin, you set the stage for great expectations, not good ones. And then a good script, some very nice music in the background, the black-and-white treatment, the dialogue delivery of a master and even the probably unnecessary distraction of the pretty girl playing the violin all add up to something so much more than just good. Bajaj Finserve has been well served by this corporate communication. And yes, Alexander the Good would have sounded ludicrous. Well said!

Do you random?

There’s this very well made TVC made by BBH India for Vespa the iconic scooter brand. I recall Vespa in India when I was young (several hundred years ago), and it was a pleasant surprise to see the tone of the communication is very young and “with it”. Let me start from the ending of the film. It shows a scooter and the super asks the question “Do you Vespa?” I like that. To me it showed the conversion of a brand name into an activity in itself. The brand was growing into much more than a scooter. It was being positioned as almost an attitude. But why have I begun at the very end? Well, rewind. The film shows people in different situations with some ‘active” music in the background and supers display captions which my limited knowledge has failed to decipher. There’s this man soaking in a tub. The caption reads “Do you tic toc?” There’s this athlete running and the caption says “Do you heart?” There’s another that read’s “Do you Me?”. Forget the visual now. Are you getting what I mean? I could ask you “Do you random”? And that would tell you what this ad is all about. If you get it, please write in and explain it to me, because I don’t.

Ramesh Narayan is a communications consultant. Send your comments to cat.a.lyst@thehindu.co.in

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