#BlastFromThePast is Storyboard18’s weekly column where we ask young creative professionals to pick old ads that they replay time and again, spots that give them writing inspiration, and commercials that never get old. This week, Prabhjeet Singh Oberoi, creative director (Copy), Cheil India touched upon commercials and the lessons he learned from them.
DDB | Bud Light Present | Real Men of Genius Commercials | 1999
This entire series is so good! For me this is a masterclass in learning to write humor with just the right amount of sarcasm, and a dash of puns.
Personal favourite |“Mr Silent Killer Gas Passer”
This campaign taught me two valuable lessons in the power of good copy.
1. If the copy is well written, it can transcend the medium and still make an impact. (These were originally written as radio spots, but became epic TV commercials.)
2. The best inspiration comes from life experiences. Be it a plot scene, the visualization of a character or writing a dialogue, always keep it close to real-life, to make it relatable for viewers.
Goodby Silverstein & Partners | GOT MILK? | Aaron Burr | 1993
While Indians were singing along to the iconic Doodh Doodh song for Amul, the California Milk Processor Board unveiled the Got Milk? campaign to the world. A campaign that gave a bland product category a flavourful image and raised the bar of excellence for the advertising industry.
A superb insight. A killer tagline. A dark and comic twist at the end. This ad is the gold standard of television commercials.
This ad taught me three lessons in the craft of filmmaking (television commercial).
1. Get a great director on board: Someone who understands your vision and then multiplies it tenfold. In this case it was Michael Bay.
2. Cast the right person in the right role: You needn’t always go with big celebrities, just choose the right person for the role and their performance will do the rest. In this case it was Sean Whalen.
3. The presence of your brand (or product) should not be a force-fit: There should be a need, a relevance for your brand to exist in that space and at that time.
Leo Burnett | John West | Red Salmon |“Bear”
“Let us think of an idea that will make this ad campaign go viral.” Whenever someone mentions this to me, I take a trip down memory lane to land on the OG – “The Bear”. This multi-award winning, most viewed, most shared commercial (during that period) was where we witnessed the birth of the “Viral Ad”.
This ad taught me two important lessons in creating viral content.
1. There is no script, no format, and no technique for making a viral video. Just focus on creating original, fresh, relatable content and hope for the best. Humor with animals is always a good place to start.
2. The simplicity of communication: People wanted to watch a man fight a bear and kick him in the nuts and that’s what they saw! The integration of the product and the brand messaging was brilliantly seamless and non-intrusive which made the ad more enjoyable.