The Best And Worst of tv Commercials 2014

Like all other forms of media, advertisements and particularly television commercials had their highs and lows in 2014. While some ad campaigns dazzled with their brilliance, out of the box themes or pure emotional connect, there were others which stooped to new lows, in a dumbing down, which assumed the viewers were morons and it was thus, alright to trample on their sensibilities. An effort to classify these:

The terrible TV commercials (TVC) of 2014:

1. The Congress campaign for the national election 2014 had all the ingredients on how not to do a promotion. The commercial on development, seemed all contrived and naive. Did not understand how the Congress could take credit for mobiles and bank ATMs, in a standalone kind of manner. Perhaps as an afterthought came another promo where it said that it could do all development works along with the collectivity of people power. The most amateurish promo of the lot was the one where the onetime NSUI Worker Muslim girl, vouched for her support for Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Yuva Soch’. Honestly, it reminded one of the inglorious DAVP (Directorate of Advertising & Visual Publicity) days -that monolithic but tired pillar of government publicity vending machinery. To think that the Congress spent a mammoth Rs 500 crore on this image bachao ad & PR campaign, that too with the help of top notch Japanese ad majors! Well, ‘Har ad bakwaas, her ad bachkaani’ is all one can say.

2. First Rekha did it. Now Sonam Kapoor. Promoting Sneakers chocolate in ads that could not have been any dumber. When struck by hunger how a guy turns into a tantrum throwing ‘heroine’…. What? Firstly the plank of positioning a chocolate as a hunger antidote does not work. ‘Hunger achche acho ko badal deta hai’ adage does nothing for brand Sneakers. Compare it with Cadbury’s ever brilliant positioning of ‘Kuch meetah ho jayee’.

3. The Alpenliebe TV commercial, where a boss dances in a drag queen act succeeds in achieving a new low for Indian Advertising. It is not so much about morality as it about plain lack of effective creativity and counting on gimmicks that no longer work. Hello, the consumer is not a moron; she is your ten year old bright new age youngster, if it is not you, yourself!

4. Remember the Coca Cola ad with the Sikh youth... The guy with a buffoon expression fawning over the fact that the girl asked him for an address and delighting that it would sooner or later translate into love-shuv once they mingle over Coca Cola. Well had not seen a more dumb and un-romantic ad in ages. Also, the stereotyping of a Sikh is a cliché to be done away with. (I feel Surds are one of the brightest that we have in India). What a comedown for a brand that once had Aamir Khan endorsing some of its most brilliantly conceptualized ads.

5. Airtel’s mobile ad tried too hard. And Failed. …lady boss gives late work to reluctant man, goes home and coaxes the man to come home, showing video (on airtel) of dinner waiting. Err… boss and wife are same person (So??!!) What does it tell us about brand association or USP of airtel?

Contextually, it may be pointed out here that Indian TV commercials seems to have woken up to a reality that there is a species called the ‘working women’, who better be targeted directly or indirectly to seem to be ‘with it’. In that euphoria, the ads that they are churning out places not the product but the hackneyed plots where the phenomenon of the woman at work is the focus. Too bad, for the unsuspecting brands, who have to bear the price of it all.

The bright ads that stood out among the clutter

1. The google re-union ad, which technically debuted towards the last months of 2013, but which we saw for the better part of 2014 can easily qualify as a milestone in advertising story telling and one of the most absorbing ads of all times. The Google re-union ad, created by Ogilvy & Mather has been able to create a connect because it has been able to establish the human interest angle so seamlessly, into a product, which stripped to its bone, is nothing but an information technology product, so what if is as big a brand name as Google. The ad had a strong and rare impact in both India and Pakistan, leading to hopes for the easing of travel restrictions between the two countries. Quite a feat for an ad!

2. Kudos to the Ambuja Cement ad campaign hovering around the theme of ‘acchi dewaarein’ and ‘buri diwarein’. A fine example where advertising creativity and innovativeness mingle happily with brand recall. Added to that is the healthy dose of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

3. The Honda City TVC reinstated the virtues of story telling. The ad weaved in the values of aspiration and ambition by integrating it with the importance of education which can enable even a driver’s children to one day own the car. The disparate elements blend well and the tag line related to higher drive gives the ad a smooth ride.

4. One of the boldest brand positioning in recent times is the ‘raho umarless’ campaign by Cadbury’s gems. The product and the TV commercials has been successful in expanding the target audience from a kids alone bracket to a universal age bracket. To top it, the ads are quite funny, without trying too hard!

5. The “ghar ka khana” campaign of Fortune Cooking oil is a winner, without trying too hard. It succeeds in associating with a heartfelt concept. The ad where an old lady pleads in the hospital to allow her to feed home food to her kin looks real and not an ad. And yes, there is that rare emotional connect!

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P.S: As far as the dumbing down of TVCs or advertisement in general in recent times, perhaps it has got something to with the general drying up of the glamour and exciting quotient that once surrounded the advertising profession. As a seasoned adman turned ad entrepreneur friend of mine pointed out -advertising has lost its cult status as the profession of the edgy and the trendy, the creative and the pushy with a delightful method in a madness that was nothing if it was not captivating. “These days, it is predominantly manned by a bunch of hardcore business people who have nothing to with the craft or the passion of advertising”, the friend had remarked. Here’s hoping that there is an influx of more talent and passion in the Indian advertising industry which can translate into the viewing pleasure of the audience.