New Delhi: Why do we need arctic polar bears to promote rabbit or mint candy to sell papads? The answer probably lies in the emotional connection people have with our furry four-legged friends that helps build brand awareness.
Almost all of us are surrounded by quirky commercials – some with the biggest names in Bollywood and others with catchy tunes. But the ads that stuck out the most were, so far, those featuring our friends from the animal kingdom.
From dogs and cats to gorillas, the Indian advertising industry has incorporated animals to create impressive ads that have stood the test of time.
Women-led papad company Lijjat Papad is a popular brand that has been around for seven decades. But apart from its alluring papads, the brand most popular is the pink puppet rabbit that adorns the plastic wrapping of its product.
Between movies and serials in the 90s, Lijjat Papad ads appeared on TV screens with this bunny singing:
,Eat with tea and coffee, Karam Kurram,
Players to guests too, Kurram Karam,
“Majdaar Lajjatdar Swad Swad Mein Lajjat Lijjat Papad”
People haven’t been able to get rid of this bunny and its catchy jingles over the years. youtube channels Those who have archived some of these old ads have a significant following of users. If anyone watches these videos, they are met with comments like “Ahhh good old memories…will fry some papads for dinner tonight” or “that rabbit made my childhood awesome”.
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‘Cheeka’, Pug
Even though the likes of drunken Lizzat Rabbit and other such furry friends were endorsing the brand they probably had no idea about, nothing really attracted India quite like Hutch/Vodafone Idea’s ‘Cheeka’. 2003 Commercial,
Hutchinson Essar’s ‘U&I’ campaign was produced by Rajeev Rao of Ogilvy & Mather (O&M) and Mahesh V. Both Rao and Mahesh have went on record Saying several times that no phone was intentionally shown in the commercials. A boy walks around town with a dog on his heels – the network follows you wherever you go. It was a simple message they wanted to make popular.
Mallika Yamadagni, Director of Brand Strategy, Leo Burnett, told ThePrint, “The idea of their core advantage in animals was genius. They were disruptive – the first in its category to do so – creating an ad that was simple, felt good, and was easy to understand. And while Chica played a central role in the narrative, she just wasn’t there to show off the ad with the cuteness. ,
India is a huge country that speaks more than 121 languages, O&M somehow managed to create an advertising campaign that spoke to everyone without language boundaries and bridged cultural differences. Until circa 2005, Cheeka’s photo was the most popular wallpaper downloaded by Vodafone customers. The popularity of this campaign was such that itpug frenzy’ became one of the most sought after breeds in the country, as a dog.
Chica and O&M also began a trend of featuring animals with human-like characteristics in commercials, and by the late 2000s we had an arsenal of them in the Chinese confectionery brand Hall. characteristic of An arctic polar bear to promote crow in its mint candy, Big Babol Adand also alpenliebe ad Characteristic of a crocodile.
What work did you do
Many of the decisions we make in our lives are driven by our emotions. And the ad creators were able to recognize it. There are only a few things that are capable of arousing powerful emotions in humans like animals.
Gurugram Creative Director Siddharth Menon told ThePrint, “Why do cat videos go viral? Because there’s a huge audience for it.”
In theory of evolution, Charles Darwin says that there is an innate similarity between animal species – and this extends to our relationships with animals. Humans, research says, are primarily visual beings and capable of understand Imagery even better than text remember This.
Menon described how today ads featuring animals are “crafted for online consumption – short, highly shareable, minimal dialogue that doesn’t require attention and delivers a nice dopamine rush”.
“An animal can help make an ad stand out visually,” he said, and called them “storytelling devices” that can help grab an audience’s attention.
Animals are also capable of bringing people of all demographics together. Yamadagni explained, “Cuteness sells — animals, kids, what have you. It’s a positive, unadulterated sentiment that can appeal universally across genders, demographics, and social classes.”
As we saw in the cases of Cheeka and Lizzat’s cute rabbit, people across the country remember these mascots and still associate them with their respective brands. These ads spoke to audiences beyond language, age, gender and regional differences.
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