addendum

Addendum is a fortnightly 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.

Needs more

With the Tata Group so much in the news, and for all the wrong reasons, we thought we’d write about something that has been in the news, albeit on a softer note: The Tiago from Tata Motors. The auto sector has been on a roll this last quarter. Sales have risen for almost all manufacturers and they are looking at another couple of good quarters as well. Tata Motors has a lot riding on the Tiago. There’s only so far it can ride on the profits of JLR and it needs a successful Indian car like never before. The early signs for the Tiago have been good. And it is sticking to its positioning as a global company. The brand ambassador is Lionel Messi, darling of the football-loving crowd the world over. This film from Soho Square has a young school boy living the dream of every school boy — riding in a car with Messi. The song in the background is nice and really tells the story the creative team had in their minds. The effort is to relate a wonderful dream that turns into reality, with what the car promises. To me, it didn’t tell me what exactly that promise was, except that it was everyone’s dream. I didn’t get to know more about this car that looks pretty nifty. Nor was Messi a Jenson Button, Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso or Lewis Hamilton. Somehow it didn’t all come together.

Better Dzire

Sticking with cars, there’s this longish TVC from Maruti Suzuki Dzire that is reasonably well made and seems to revolve around a drive that takes the cast to some open-air eating place where there is music and dancing that resolves a by-play involving a very busy husband, and all sorts of things. It made me wonder what all this has to do with a car. But at least in this film there were glimpses of a remote key, a press-button ignition, roomy rear seats, auto-gears and the like. So even if the script meandered, I was very clear what the Suzuki Dzire had to offer, and liked it.

Get lost …

“Get lost” might have different connotations in English but in Hindi, kho jaao has a rather positive meaning. Cadbury’s and Ogilvy create another memorable chapter in their ongoing series with Ramesh and Suresh. Here the funny duo are strolling in some European town when they sit down because one of them needs to tie a shoe lace. Out come the 5 Star chocolates with extra caramel, and the duo get lost in a world of their own. The man sitting next to them doesn’t realise that while tying his shoe laces, one of the duo ties it to his own. This man happens to be a bag snatcher. He picks up the bag of the lady in the next bench and makes a run for it but trips because his laces are tied to those of the deadly duo. A little bit of exaggeration, some slapstick humour, a concentrated effort to stick with a good idea and extend it, and you have another good effort for Cadbury’s 5 Star.

Glare-free doesn’t sparkle

Phillips and O&M have two TVCs for their glare-free LED lights, one for the industrial segment and the other for the home segment. Ranbir Kapoor is the protagonist who offers various “alternative therapies” to relieve eye strain. And then you have the “voice from the ceiling” advising Philips LED lights as a long-term solution for glare-free ceiling lights. Honestly, having a talented actor like Ranbir acting out an insipid script is really sad!

The long and short of it

And because we are short on space but long on commitment, let me just say I loved the film made by Boring Brands for One Plus 3 mobile phones. Shows how a long, well-made film with great scenery and a lovely song can make me excuse an extravagance that shows how quickly a phone can be charged.

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

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