You must start the New Year by watching this highly motivating ad by Royal Challenge

Stills from the Royal Challenge Sports Drink ad

  

‘Make a bold move’ is the latest surrogate ad by Royal Challenge under the disguise of Royal Challenge sports drink featuring India’s current cricketing sensation and youth icon Virat Kohli. This highly inspirational ad has been created by Royal Challenge in collaboration with DDB Mudra Group.

Inspection: The ad portrays everyday life through the use of running trains and its passengers. According to the ad, our life is like a moving train and we are its passengers and the track on which it keeps running is actually the society and its expectations. So, our train keeps running on such tracks whether we like it or not and we are always afraid to stop or change tracks. The ad shows a nervous man who is sceptical about resigning from his current job to take up an initiative in the NGO sector. It also shows an inter-caste couple separated from each other due to travelling in different trains. However, Virat Kohli states that we never know what the future might hold and we can’t know it either unless we take a bold step. He then pulls the chain of his train and gets off signalling his bold move. Similarly, other people in the ad also do the same – the hesitant man sends his resignation email and the inter-caste couple hug each other when the Hindu guy gets on the Muslim girl’s train.

Analysis: The ad urges us not to hold back and follow our instincts to make our own choices instead of being shackled by the society's expectations for the rest of our lives. The ad has highlighted two major issues – job security and the marriage system. India is a country where people have little flexibility in terms of choosing a profession or a life partner of their choice. The theme song which is energetic and infectious blends with the narration and makes the ad quite inspirational. Although liquor companies are banned from advertising in India, they are known for their innovative and surprisingly inspirational surrogate ads. This, by far, is one of the finest surrogate ads that we have ever seen.

The Ad Inspector’s Rating: 4.5/5 

Manyavar expose the age old traditions in this morally enlightening ad.

Virat Kohli Ki Ladkiwaalo Se Demand!

          Men’s ethnic fashion wear brand ‘Manyavar’ with cricketer Virat Kohli as its official brand ambassador questions the old custom that burden the bride’s family while making arrangements for an Indian style wedding in a recent ad conceptualised by Shreyansh Innovations.

Inspection:  The ad revolves around a central message i.e. ‘Maan dene se Maan milta hai’. The ad features Virat Kohli initially depicting a typical Indian groom sitting with his parents demanding and expecting the bride’s family to bear the expenses of a lavish wedding. The ad portrays and highlights the true scenario of our Indian Society where the groom family is considered superior and it becomes the duty of the bride’s family to fulfil all their expensive demands with dignity. The viewers might agree with the content because this is exactly what is happening! But to change this mentality while concluding his big demand list Virat also claims that the beauty of marriage is all about sharing so all the expenses will be shared between both the families thus, making a strong positive appeal to bring about a change in our age old traditions and society in order to earn true respect.

Analysis: The communication message is very well crafted which flawlessly blends with the brand. Stylish and charming national youth icon Virat Kohli did justice to the role with his admirable unique style enhancing the brand image of ‘Manyavar’. The commendable ad script cleverly questions us all and urges us to be a part of a social change for the betterment. In order to trigger the mindset of the Indian audience, the makers of the ad planned to continuously expand the campaign highlighting various such social messages through their various ads.

Good to see brand promotion with such enlightening social messages!

The Ad Inspector’s Rating : 4/5

Coca-Cola's 'Brotherly Love' will surely remind you of the special bond you share with your brother.

                                        Stills from the Coca-Cola ad titled 'Brotherly Love'

Coca-Cola's latest ad 'Brotherly Love' is refreshing and leaves a smile on your face

Titled ‘Brotherly Love’, Coca-Cola India’s new ad celebrates the special bonding which exists between all the brothers in the world. Coca-Cola already have global versions of the same ad and after much positive response, they have now recreated the same ad for the Indian audience. The ad features a special song sung by renowned playback singer Mohit Chauhan.

Inspection: The ad tells the story of two brothers with a very intelligent use of the product, i.e., Coca-Cola. The older brother finds utmost delight in troubling the younger one in every possible situation, which includes keeping their favourite drink (Coca-Cola, obviously) out of the younger brother’s reach, spoiling his dress with the carbonated drink when he is all ready to go out and even going to the extent of troubling him just as he is about to befriend a girl, which pretty much freaks out the girl. However, in the very next scene, just when a bunch of bullies threaten to take away the younger brother’s bottle of Coca-Cola, the older brother immediately comes to the rescue of his little brother and gets the bottle back. They share a special moment where the older brother offers the bottle to his little brother to relish, but still can’t think of going away without troubling his little brother again. The last scene beautifully reveals how much the older brother loves teasing his little brother and how much the little brother equally loves getting troubled.

Analysis: The Indian version lives up to the expectations set by the international versions. The theme of brotherly love is beautifully portrayed by the actors and the delightful song sung by Mohit Chauhan complements the storyline quite well. The makers of the ad have been successful in capturing the unique bonding and love which exists between two brothers wherein the older brother loves his little brother dearly and shields him whenever need be but at the same time feels that he has the full right to tease, play and trouble his little brother for his own fun. The last scene of a giggling younger brother shows how much he loves his older brother and enjoys getting troubled by him. Coca-Cola has always been successful in using the emotional appeal and they deliver yet again with this pleasant ad.

The Ad Inspector’s rating: 4/5 

Ranveer Singh in the new Thums Up TVC

Ranveer Singh replaces Salman Khan as the new face of 'Thums Up', but lacks Salman's aura which complemented the brand image

Coca Cola India’s Thums Up recently released a new TVC featuring a brand new ambassador in the form of current heart-throb Ranveer Singh, who replaced Salman Khan to become the new face of Thums Up. The 45-sec action packed TVC has been directed by notable Hollywood director Simon West.

Inspection: The central theme of the ad is quite clear from Ranveer’s line – “Main hum bhi hun, aur khaas bhi”. The ad portrays Ranveer as a courageous saviour who risks his own life trying to save school children who become victims of a school bus accident. The ad is trying to communicate that anybody can be a hero. We just need to ignite our heroic spirit whenever the need arrives. There is no such thing as a superhero and each one of us, the ordinary people, have the ability to become one. We just need to bring out our extraordinary abilities at the correct time. And of course, it is Thums Up which gives us that extra push to become 'Toofani'.

Analysis: The theme of the ad deserves a lot of praise. However, since Thums up has a very strong and masculine brand image, Ranveer doesn’t seem fit to fill in the shoes of Salman Khan who brought in a lot of raw manliness to the brand. Ranveer is more of an enthusiastic and flamboyant young guy and therefore is visibly not suitable for such a serious and macho role. Ranveer’s energy is clearly not used by the director as in his other endorsements like Set Wet and Vivo. There is no questioning Ranveer’s masculinity who is the current sensation in Bollywood, but the brand needs a more mature and manly actor like Salman to complement the rugged brand image. Moreover, Thums Up has discontinued the energetic theme song "Aaj Kuch Toofani Karte Hain" which adds to the disappointment. Add to that resemblances to a scene from Fast and Furious 7 and certain logical mistakes, the ad will definitely fail to match up to the expectations set by the previous ads featuring Salman Khan.

The Ad Inspector’s Rating : 2/5