Hasty execution

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.

Every regular reader of this column knows I love cars. And that includes every variant that is being offered to us these days. That would explain why I watched the commercial for the “all new dynamic Santa Fe” with particular interest. In short, the commercial could have been as good as the vehicle looks. Instead, it uses a tame device of a girl watching the car approach, through a telescope. The shots of the car (an SUV) itself are very well done, even if the effort to display its gradient-climbing capability looks a tad overdone. The voice belting out a tune in the background goes well with the momentum of the film but I wish someone could have marginally slowed the pace at which the driver is shown pressing some buttons on the car. Despite trying hard to see what exactly he was doing, the unnecessarily quick skip from those shots left me wondering why they were shown at all. And please don’t tell me I need to know a little more about the car to appreciate it. I reckon the film is for those who haven’t seen this handsome car. I just wish Hyundai had added on certain fundamental little features that one takes for granted and doesn’t even enquire about. I must say I was really sore that the earlier model (which I saw less than two years ago), which was amongst the more expensive cars in its category, didn’t even come with a remote for the audio system. How chintzy can one get? Otherwise, its macho looks and refined interior make it a winner all the way.

A cool one

We’ve always associated Blue Star with office cooling. I recall many, many years ago when I opened a little office of my own I was very proud to have Blue Star air conditioning in the office. Anyway, now, Blue Star is keen to position itself as an office and a home air-conditioning company and also to push its inverter-based systems as well. Interface Communications has made a zany little commercial for them which shows this office executive jiving energetically to Boney M’s Daddy Cool. (I’m not sure how many of today’s youngsters have heard of Boney M, but we love them.) Well, he suddenly loses the energy charge as he steps out of his office but regains it with gusto as he enters the Blue Star-cooled confines of his home. The sheer energy displayed by our local “daddy cool” is quite enjoyable to watch and the idea definitely hammers home the concept of office and home cooling.

Compelling effort

If the story of Ekalavya learning archery from a statue of Dronacharya moved you, if the Bhaag Milkha Bhaag movie inspired you, you will love the new TVC for Spice mobile phones from Ogilvy. The whole film is about this hard-working villager with a dream of becoming a world-class discus thrower. And his instructor, guide and coach is the Spice mobile handset and the videos he is able to see on it and learn from them. The narrative takes the form of a rustic song, the visuals are very interesting and the overall impression one gets is very good. The tag line talks about Spice connecting you with your dreams, which is as compelling a line as any. I guess tales of effort and hard work, of humble beginnings and lofty dreams, are always very engaging. And this one is no different.

(Ramesh Narayan is a communications consultant. Send your feedback to >cat.a.lyst@thehindu.co.in )

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