Advertisements have always been a great way for brands to market their products and services. However, it has always been a hit or miss situation. Not all brands come up with great advertisements. Some have positive lasting impacts and some we would just love to forget. Storyboard18’s weekly ad reviews filter through the past weeks ads, letting you know which ones were the best and which ones weren’t quite up to mark. We provide you with completely unbiased and unfiltered opinions that are fun to read and paint a clear picture. Read on to find out which ads were in our professional opinions, MAST and which were MEH in this week’s Mast & Meh.
MAST
Brand – Hero MotoCorp
Agency – L&K Saatchi & Saatchi
For their new campaign ‘Where Next’, Hero MotoCorp has put together a feel good spot starring Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli. The actors are seen riding the brand’s newly introduced XPulse 200T 4V. The simplicity of the script and the right brand ambassadors make the ad a good watch. Sharma and Kohli are a very relatable couple and any spot that stars them and does not go overboard with brand placement generally turns out to be watchable. It’s a steady jodi in the real and reel worlds. A catchy hummable track adds to the feel-good factor. Extra points for writing in Sharma as the bike rider. We’re ready to hit the road with this one.
MEH
Brand – Maaza, Coca-Cola
Agency – Conceptualized by Ogilvy India as a part of OpenX from WPP
The new ‘Aam Wali Dildaari, Bina Naam Wali Dildaari’ campaign from Maaza has the star power but fails to create any impact through its ad film. Maaza might have had all good intentions to highlight the spirit of benevolence and encourage anonymous acts of kindness through the spot but unfortunately the end result doesn’t have too much novelty. Moreover, it also fails to establish its genre. The ad neither falls in the ‘heart-warming’ category nor in the comic category. Amitabh Bachchan and Pooja Hegde however, look good in their parts but do not do much to add to the storytelling. This one is quite aam. We’ve seen Maaza do better!
MAST
Brand – Cadbury 5 Star
Agency – Ogilvy India
This month before our social timelines are flooded with all things love and mush, Cadbury 5 Star decided to disrupt Valentine’s Day. Literally. The brand known for its cheeky advertising flavour has launched a ‘mush’ detector web app. It works exactly like its name. It allows people to track areas where gifts like chocolates are being purchased in large numbers, as well as hotspots like restaurants, cinemas and public places that are likely to be swarming with couples, and combines all the data to create a real-time map of mush. Users can also use the AR-mode to point their phone cameras at any location to see if they are in a minefield of mush. It’s innovative, fun, and targets happily single people perfectly. The mush detector is a super MAST.
MAST
Brand – Rungta Steel
Real-life celebrity couples are everywhere in ads these days. Giving Kohli-Sharma a run for their brand endorsement money are Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt. As far as steel pipe ads go this one is quite watchable. There are several debates about whether celebrities are the right fit for steel brands and not without good reason. But if it works it works. This one falls on the border of Mast and Meh, saved by a good-enough script and solid acting by Bhatt.
MAST
Brand – Tide
Agency – Music Boutique
Tide’s new campaign at first glance may seem a bit over-the-top almost inching towards being garish with the protagonist (comedian Kiku Sharda) wearing the brand’s bright orange coloured outfit. Sharda is seen dancing to the foot-tapping music video ‘Khachak Khuchak Chod do’ which apparently is the sound of arduous scrubbing that consumers have to do when washing clothes by hand. Despite the phrase sounding absurd, the jingle has a catchy feel to it and has the potential to become popular, leading to a higher brand recall for the detergent brand. This one receives a thumbs up.
MEH
Brand – Shyam Steel
Agency – Bang On Content
Shyam Steel’s new ad featuring Sonu Sood plays to the category codes and rides on his nationalist humanitarian image. The actor is seen mouthing the script of the brand film which showcases the brand as the harbinger of a growing and developing India. This theme has been done to death in the steel advertising category and doesn’t really bring any differentiation to the brand. Same old and typical.
MAST
Brand – Cadbury Dairy Milk
Agency – Ogilvy
Short, sweet and heartwarming. The film is a bite-size chunk of goodness. A Mast watch which comes across as a breath of fresh air for touching upon the positive side of workplace relationships.
MEH
Brand – Kotak 811
Campaign – Shayari aur Tanmay? #SamayKoSahiKaamPeLagao
This one is confusing. We understood the pun used on ‘Samay’ as in the comedian and time. We also understood that Tanmay Bhat switched to ‘shayari’ because his jokes were offensive. The ad is very clever. There’s no doubt about that. But, it was boring. The storyline could have been more elaborate and could’ve made better use of the two popular comedians. For an ad featuring puns and comedians, the entire premise fell flat.
MAST
Brand – Tata 1MG
Agency – Spring Marketing Capital
A tasteful mix of great acting and a well written script. Pankaj Tripathi as always, is the highlight. His acting skills are what carries this commercial. The premise is simple, on time delivery of medicines. The story too is simple but beautifully captured. This one lands in the Mast pile.
MAST
Brand – Britannia
Campaign – Live This Moment
We’ve all heard the saying, “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is mystery but today is God’s gift which is why it is called the present.” In our opinion, any ad that starts with such a fun and unique sentence is bound to be super interesting. Britannia’s latest commercial is a fun, cheeky and delightful watch. A guru is seen preaching to his subjects about the importance of living in the present/moment. To successfully do so, one must consume the Britannia Pure Magic Chocolush because it is magic in a bite. The ad is clever as it uses a cultural trope to capture and convey the emotions of peace, tranquility and satisfaction through a single bite of the cookie. The setting and colour scheme of the ad too add to the undisturbed feeling of the ad. A great watch that deserves a Mast.