Surf’s ‘Lalitaji’ was an icon in Indian advertising. Played by Kaveta Chaudhry, who sparkled in a saree, her forehead emblazoned with a big bindi, Lalitaji would tap her temple, smile, look into the camera and say, ‘Surf ki kharidari mein samajhdari hai (Buying Surf makes sense).’. The lady who became synonymous with Lalitaji died of cardiac arrest on February 15. Chaudhry, who was battling cancer, was 67.
Storyboard18 looks into the iconic campaign ‘Surf’s Lalitaji’ that made Chaudhry a household name.
The campaign, which debuted on television in 1984 when the Los Angeles Summer Olympics had gripped the entire nation, enjoyed a run for several years even after Chaudhry became a writer, director and producer with Doordarshan series Udaan. In a conversation with Storyboard18 in 2022, Chaudhry made the revelation that the roles she was offered following the commercials interfered in her exploring various other roles.
Lalitaji’s genesis
At a time that upstart Nirma was threatening in no small measure to usurp the reigning detergent brand by offering a cheaper alternative, Pathfinders, an in-house research division of Lintas, the creators of the campaign, found that Surf users believed it was more value for money. The reasons given were better quality of washing and no harmful side effects. Hence, Lintas decided to shift its focus from price to value, and the proposition came down to value for money.
The creative idea was to highlight what an average middle-class homemaker decides on one brand over another, and how she justifies the higher price. Based on this premise, Lalitaji began to take shape.
How was Chaudhry roped in?
Around the time Lintas was scouting for a candidate to be the face of the campaign for the detergent powder brand, Chaudhry was a lead actor in a play called ‘Pagal Khana’ that was directed by late veteran adman Alyque Padamsee (also the chief executive of Lintas, now MullenLowe Lintas Group). Padamsee coaxed Chaudhry to audition. Post her audition, as she was standing outside the lift of Express Towers at Nariman Point, the client servicing team informed her, “You have been selected.”
The media mix
Once the campaign hit television screens, it enjoyed tremendous success and was featured in 16 languages. Surf was also advertised in magazines, newspapers and any other medium that a housewife was exposed to, including radio and billboards.
However, Chaudhry drew the line at appearing on Surf packs.
The campaign ran for years until Hindustan Lever (now Hindustan Unilever) introduced Wheel detergent powder with a cost factor was on a par with Nirma.
Influence of Surf’s Lalitaji
Once, the team was shooting a Surf commercial while election campaigning was on. One of them who was a part of the election campaigning, glanced at the crew and stated, “Lalitaji campaign ki Lalitaji bhi yahi kehti hai, inko vote dene mein hi samajhdari hai.”
Even two-wheeler companies approached Chaudhry, who was still under the contract with Lintas, to feature in their ad campaigns.
Lalitaji: Caricature or real-life person?
For a long time, Lalitaji was thought to have been based on Padamsee’s mother. However, as pointed out to Storyboard18 by a veteran ad man, the character was the creation of Usha Bhadkamkar, former group creative director at the agency, as a modern lady based on model on real life middle class housewives’ values. It could be any woman who would behave in a similar fashion in a marketplace, perhaps in a different milieu, in a different way, but would be seeking value for what she was paying for.
Read More: Throwback: When Lalitaji shielded Surf from redundancy