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.
You are young and, understandably, immersed in yourself. So taking a selfie is a given. At a party, near a tourist attraction, or maybe when you just think you are looking good. So what’s wrong with that? Nothing. However, Tata Docomo, in its new TV commercial (TVC) created by Contract, reminds you that keeping such a selfie just to one’s self is an act of “selfie-ishness”. And so you see this young lady clicking a selfie solely for herself. . So this deep voice-over in the background chides her saying that instead of being selfie-ish, she should think of her boyfriend who could be, at that very moment, being hauled over the coals by his father and would yet almost unconsciously reach for his phone the moment it notifies him of her selfie. The surge of affection at the sight of it would be like a draft of cool breeze to a feverish forehead. More so as Tata Docomo has these wonderful data plans that are attractively priced, and it really would make sense to pass on some goodwill to someone. Or so the film says. I like it. Not as much as the first film in the series where the pouting girl waited in vain for one “like”, but this one drew me with the concept of the selfie-ish act. By the way, did you notice how many New Year greetings you got on WhatsApp compared to the SMS messages this year? Well, now you know how important data plans are for the telcos.
Century Laminates has a TVC made by Hakuhodo Percept that is currently playing. It’s a film that wants to show you the diverse range of laminates Century offers. And so it has a young couple actually disagreeing on everything so that you can see what’s on offer. It’s what one may call an a-for-apple effort. And for some much needed comic relief there’s this salesman who is desperately trying to get his view across only to be rather brusquely put down by the young lady. She even says “shut up” when he tries to give his view once. I wouldn’t like to be a salesman (or is he a broker?) with clients like this young lady. Anyway, if the idea was to show you that you could be spoilt for choice by Century Laminates, the film succeeds. And if you are in the market for some laminates already, you wouldn’t mind seeing what’s on offer.
Step in style
Relaxo Flite footwear has evidently found success with having Bollywood celebs endorse its brand. So it has decided to stay on the tried-and-tested route with one new feature - a new endorser. So this time it has the svelte Sonakshi Sinha shaking a leg to some very Bollywood-esque music and moves as she shows off her stylish footwear which apparently comes in a wide range of designs and colours. I’m actually trying to write something more about this ad by ARMS communications, but failing. You’ve got the general drift, right? Boy asks girl how she looks so good. Girl says beauty is in the feet (my interpretation). Girl breaks into a dance. A group of professional dancers, including a statutory foreigner, help her. Music plays, they danceThat’s it. I guess if it’s working for the brand, who am I to complain?
Ramesh Narayan is a communications consultant. Mail your comments to cat.a.lyst@thehindu.co.in