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. Write in with either advertisements you wish reviewed or with your comments at <mailto: addendum.brandline@gmail.com > addendum.brandline@gmail.com

What happens when you have two gifted actors, Rishi and Ranbir Kapoor acting in a well scripted, well directed TVC? No, I won't give you a crore for the correct answer. But maybe Pepsi will. The new TVC shows you how Pepsi provides a short-cut to win a crore of rupees by just getting the right answer to the question posed on the reverse side of the wrapper of special Pepsi bottles. Riding the Kaun Banega Crorepati wave where it is apparently very difficult to be called into the studio to be quizzed by the Big B, and then even more difficult to crack the bank after that, Pepsi has begun providing this little short cut to a big bonanza. The KBC association, the casting of the father and son duo, the idea in itself and the great execution make for a real winner. I'll raise a can of Pepsi to that.

Mercedes Benz.

Mercedes is an iconic brand and it hasn't got to where it is without some real good old fashioned brand building. Even though BMW in India has stormed the luxury end of the auto market and has notched up impressive gains, no one can write a requiem for Mercedes Benz.

I saw an advertisement for their new CLS range of luxury sedans. I will not go on about the car itself, because I might start drooling all over the key pad of my computer. Let's stick with just the TVC. There's this guy leaning nonchalantly on a CLS and this lady walks up and says “Nice Car”. The man thanks her and says it has “green efficiency”. The lady looks at him and says “it's blue efficiency”, pauses just long enough to let sarcasm drip deliciously, and says “darling”.

Her hand goes up, her remote pops the locks for her car, his jaw drips and she gives him a devilishly triumphant look as she drives off in her dream boat of a car. I love the TVC. So simple and yet exuding an air of sophistication and panache that would typify anyone who knows what a really good car is all about. And who could fork out upwards of Rs. 60 lac to buy one.

No getting away.

Tata Docomo and their Agency have decided that series after series of short little films fired at the audience with bewildering regularity would probably help in keeping them hooked. Probably. In fact, the sheer number of films (after the great Ranbir series) in the new “No getting Away” series have kept me riveted to the screen wondering what the next new TVC will be all about. That doesn't mean every one of them is a gem. I guess when you opt for quantity, a couple of not-so great ideas would also make the grade just to achieve the numeric target.

Yet, by and large the series is enjoyable. I am particularly intrigued at a rather bold approach that highlights the reach of a network (no getting away from it) and yet uses situations where one might not want to be reached.

As the mother who has just put the baby to sleep, the last thing I want to hear is the loud ring that would wake her up. Or for that matter if I was steaming up the windows in the car parked somewhere deep in the bowels of a car park, in that delightful TVC which showed a car rocking, or even if I was the girl who threw the phone into the cupboard when her dad walked in enquiring whom she had been talking to.

Well I guess it certainly is a very different way of making a strong point. Personally I am fed up of dropped calls each time I get into an elevator, or when I drive on a flyover, or when I pass the Air India building at Nariman Point, or.....Maybe I should switch to a network there's “no getting away” from.

Sangam Suitings.

They have Suneil Shetty and Virat Kohli. They have good production values in their TVC's and seem to have a great range of suitings. Now all they need is a great idea. Right now they have two TVC's, one showing the two celebrities on a highway and the other in a hotel. Both the TVC's show the stars unsuccessful until they put on their Sangan jackets (trousers and shirts simply will not do it seems) and then they succeed in impressing first a lovely chauffeur and then a lovely hotel front office staffer. Boy is that how far Sangam gets these stars? I'll stick to half sleeve shirts and jeans.

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