What’s the difference between good advertising and great advertising? And no, the answer has nothing to do with any kind of numbers. It’s quite simple really. They differ in their ability (or the lack of it) to generate conversation. And from purely that standpoint, Pepsi’s latest extravaganza, Oh Yes Abhi is an absolute failure.
I am not sure if it’s really worthy of going, ‘Hey, have you seen the latest Pepsi ad?’ in any conversation. Unless, you want to follow up that question with ‘What the hell is it all about?’ Or worse, ‘That gives me a sense of deja vu.’ The theme of living in the moment has after all been done to death. Possibly, almost as many times as the cliche used to define it has been used by humanity collectively.
It is just a new, though not necessarily better way of saying ‘Life is calling; where are you’ think vodka brand Smirnoff) or ‘Reclaim your life’ (think Tata Dicor Safari). These are just a few random examples to illustrate the point. There will be more. Until then, though, these examples can be counter-intuitive, both being quite captivating pieces of work despite the ‘cliched’ theme. Is it then the concept or the execution that has gone wrong here?
That brings us to the execution, the larger than life, zany visuals. Not unheard of in a cola advertising context.. Both Pepsi and their bitter rival, Coca Cola have experimented with the style in the past. And yet, that is precisely where both seem to have lost the plot. Cola advertising has, when done right, been the highpoint of the advertising calendar in the past. Including the times, when the two have clashed in celluloid space, spoofing each other publicly.
Recollect some old campaigns from Pepsi. Like the Shahrukh dressing up like Sachin and entering the cricket team’s dressing room in search of Pepsi, only to be pushed out onto the field for batting one. Or the one with Shahrukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan and Preity Zinta, where on being denied entry to the girl’s hostel, the two actors organise the cars (only the ones in Pepsi colours red, blue and white) in a heart formation to impress Zinta. Consider even some of the more recent work with Ranbir Kapoor. The Youngistan campaign commercials like a female friend being forced to go through the arranged marriage process, only to have Kapoor save the day by turning up and claim to be the prospect’s lover. Or in even more recent past the Change the Game series where ordinary people help cricketers master their moves, with the latter making visible fools of themselves and drawing fond laughs from fans.
And now compare these to the overly ‘musical’ Pepsi campaigns. The one with a young, gawky Shahid Kapoor and the three Kuch Kuch Hota Hai stars, Shahrukh, Rani and Kajol or even the epic (for quite a few wrong reasons) ‘Oye bubbly’ campaign, of which you may possibly not remember anything except the bubbly tune.
What strikes you about the ‘non-musical’ lot is the presence of a plot. There is a defined beginning, middle and end. A story encapsulated in the forty seconds to a minute time frame. More importantly there is wit and humour, so characteristic of cola advertising as it has emerged in India. It held your attention and like a favourite movie or story, represented something you didn’t mind seeing over and over, rather than flipping the channel at the first flash of the commercial. And those were the ones, that became conversation starters.
Pepsi must wake up to this simple fact. A mash up of big names accompanied by some psychedelic tunes cannot pass of as creativity. Especially when the brand’s DNA has a pretty glorious past, as far as advertising is concerned, to benchmark itself against.
I am not sure if it’s really worthy of going, ‘Hey, have you seen the latest Pepsi ad?’ in any conversation. Unless, you want to follow up that question with ‘What the hell is it all about?’ Or worse, ‘That gives me a sense of deja vu.’ The theme of living in the moment has after all been done to death. Possibly, almost as many times as the cliche used to define it has been used by humanity collectively.
It is just a new, though not necessarily better way of saying ‘Life is calling; where are you’ think vodka brand Smirnoff) or ‘Reclaim your life’ (think Tata Dicor Safari). These are just a few random examples to illustrate the point. There will be more. Until then, though, these examples can be counter-intuitive, both being quite captivating pieces of work despite the ‘cliched’ theme. Is it then the concept or the execution that has gone wrong here?
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A bit of both I guess. By now the rather public dissection of Gen X and Gen Y’s or as Pepsi would refer to them the ‘Youngistan’s’ impulsive nature is fairly known. Their latent tendencies of acting on a whim quite renowned. The storyboard fails to give anything new then. A spontaneous decision to get a haircut? Bunking work for a holiday? An in the moment decision to get inked? Like I said, it gives you a sense of deja vu. And I don’t even plan to get into the argument around the merits (more like demerits in my view) of such ‘cool’ portrayal of a fairly ‘uncool’ attitude. I don’t see how doing something brash in the spur of the moment can pass off as breaking some imaginary shackles. But, that discussion can be quite tangential to the topic, better left for another day.
That brings us to the execution, the larger than life, zany visuals. Not unheard of in a cola advertising context.. Both Pepsi and their bitter rival, Coca Cola have experimented with the style in the past. And yet, that is precisely where both seem to have lost the plot. Cola advertising has, when done right, been the highpoint of the advertising calendar in the past. Including the times, when the two have clashed in celluloid space, spoofing each other publicly.
Recollect some old campaigns from Pepsi. Like the Shahrukh dressing up like Sachin and entering the cricket team’s dressing room in search of Pepsi, only to be pushed out onto the field for batting one. Or the one with Shahrukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan and Preity Zinta, where on being denied entry to the girl’s hostel, the two actors organise the cars (only the ones in Pepsi colours red, blue and white) in a heart formation to impress Zinta. Consider even some of the more recent work with Ranbir Kapoor. The Youngistan campaign commercials like a female friend being forced to go through the arranged marriage process, only to have Kapoor save the day by turning up and claim to be the prospect’s lover. Or in even more recent past the Change the Game series where ordinary people help cricketers master their moves, with the latter making visible fools of themselves and drawing fond laughs from fans.
And now compare these to the overly ‘musical’ Pepsi campaigns. The one with a young, gawky Shahid Kapoor and the three Kuch Kuch Hota Hai stars, Shahrukh, Rani and Kajol or even the epic (for quite a few wrong reasons) ‘Oye bubbly’ campaign, of which you may possibly not remember anything except the bubbly tune.
What strikes you about the ‘non-musical’ lot is the presence of a plot. There is a defined beginning, middle and end. A story encapsulated in the forty seconds to a minute time frame. More importantly there is wit and humour, so characteristic of cola advertising as it has emerged in India. It held your attention and like a favourite movie or story, represented something you didn’t mind seeing over and over, rather than flipping the channel at the first flash of the commercial. And those were the ones, that became conversation starters.
Pepsi must wake up to this simple fact. A mash up of big names accompanied by some psychedelic tunes cannot pass of as creativity. Especially when the brand’s DNA has a pretty glorious past, as far as advertising is concerned, to benchmark itself against.