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 – Swiggy
Agency – In-House
Warning. These brand films will make you hungry. Extremely hungry! Food and grocery app, Swiggy has hit the right note using ASMR as a medium of communication in its recent ads. These mukbang videos have no quirks, no story but we bet you will watch them till the end. In video one, viewers get to see one person eat a meal from McDonald’s; in the other one, we see someone enjoying a large feast of just different types of chaat for three minutes straight. The sound of fries in a bag lathered with peri peri mix, the crunch of the sweet and spicy pani puri and the large gulps of the incredibly sweet and delicious strawberry milkshake will force viewers to open the Swiggy app and order food, irrespective of the time of day. We think it’s a good strategic move and a different communication approach adopted by the brand that indulges in memes for marketing. This series of ads checks every flavour on our palette and playlist.
MEH
Brand – Licious
Agency – Tilt Brand Solutions
Technically, there is nothing wrong with this commercial. It’s funny in bits. The set up and script treatment is okay too. However, the point that the brand is trying to make and equate got us confused. The core message got lost in translation. It’s so long-winding that it forces us to end this review with a face-palm emoji. That’s all.
MAST
Brand – Polycab
Agency – Ogilvy India
Polycab’s latest campaign is a perfect example of how to weave an interesting story to create product recall in a category which is extremely dry. The spot centres on a dedicated father who wants his daughter to succeed. He builds a badminton court where she can practice without the restriction of time robbing away the daylight. Of course, he uses Polycab wires to light up the entire court and surprises his daughter who seems over the moon with her father’s thoughtful gesture. This one warmed our hearts.
MEH
Brand – Mamaearth
Agency – Momespresso
The only interesting aspect of this new campaign by Mamaearth is the fact that it features the company’s founders – Varun and Ghazal Alagh talking about their personal experience in finding the right products for their children. This lends more credibility to the new range, CocoSoft targeted at baby skincare solutions. Otherwise, like all other baby product ads, it is a typical category specific boring script. Nothing new under the sun.
MAST
Brand – Dollar Industries
Campaign – Thand ka weapon
Agency – Lowe Lintas
We have to admit, thoughts were not very favourable about this commercial when judged by the cover. However, as the ad began to play, with every musical beat, the commercial just turned out to be pure entertainment and an ideal fit for whiling away time. As actors Yami Gautam and Akshay Kumar realise that thieves have broken into their house, what follows next is what keeps you hooked. Though the script lacks a concise storyline, it scores a Mast for its comic timing. We believe, Dollar Ultra Thermal will be handy tool in the box for thieves to use at their disposal lest their plans be foiled.
MEH
Brand – MakeMyTrip
Campaign – Dream Trips Now Made Easy!
Going on a long relaxing yet enjoyable holiday is a dream for all. When commercials on budget friendly travels surface, can there be anything more comforting for our hearts and souls than that? But, the recent commercial by MakeMyTrip promoting its new offering, ‘Book with No Payment’ leaves you with a rather unsatisfactory feeling, thinking, ‘This could have been better’. As the ad begins to roll and as Alia Bhatt announces her upcoming trip to Kerala, the expectations are high that it would turn out to be an interesting watch. With the addition of Ranveer Singh’s exaggerated Bihari accent, our interest did soar a tad bit high. However, it fizzles out when the duo is seen parroting the benefits of this offer. This ad could have run with a voice over and a slide show. We couldn’t understand the point of featuring Bhatt and Singh.
Mast
Brand – Britannia 50-50
Agency – Lowe Lintas
A swift and effortless knock out of the park. Britannia’s latest ad showcasing the amazing duality and seamless blend of Indian ‘maska’ and foreign herbs in their 50-50 biscuit, can only be conveyed by a sterling personality like Ravi Shastri. A cool concept of showing the typical sophisticated praise of a foreigner and the over the top celebration of an Indian. We enjoyed these metaphorical ads. It was clever move to use Ravi Shastri as everyone knows that what he played is what he actually is. Cool and composed on the outside but extravagant and patriotic on the inside. If we had to nit-pick, there wasn’t a clearly conveyed product shot. At the start we were confused and thought that what was handed to Shastri was a packaged juice box. It left us thinking that ad would milk the same old joke between Shastri and a cold beverage. However, the ad picked up from there and delivered its message clearly.
Meh
Brand – Sugar Cosmetics
Once again, beauty and cosmetics brand, Sugar has used its founder in its ad. We are all for the idea of using founders in ads but not for the sake of it. The last ad that featured Vineeta Singh, too felt unnatural and unnecessary. There is a slight improvement here though, she has three words to speak this time rather than just the one. It’s improving gradually. Using puns and wordplay in ads is always fun and entertaining to watch. However, when the entire ad centres around it, it is important to make sure that it doesn’t feel forced which is the case in this ad. Actors Ranveer Singh and Tamannah Bhatia too don’t manage to impact the ad positively. A classic case of a half-baked script. The brand really needs to rethink their approach towards catering to a meme-friendly, internet savvy audience.