By Malay Desai
From: Lowe Lintas
A Muslim man is shown peeking into window exhibits at a watch showroom. He moves on from one dangling price tag to the other, all the costs being around 7000 to 9000 rupees. The owner, on spotting him looking dejected, approaches the spot from inside and holds up a ‘Diwali Offer 50% off’ sign. Elated, the man walks in, hugs the owner and sends a picture of the watch from his phone to his wife. ‘Dharm jo bhi ho, har tyohar manana ek accha idea hai’, the VO ends, before the logo appearance.
Do we Like
It’s that week of the year when we’re splurging on the routine and the luxurious alike. The ad wallahs however have seem to have taken an early holiday as we haven’t spotted any indulgent, rich campaigns, just the usual ‘happiness’ templates running here and there. And while Big Bazaar’s ‘khushiyaan’ spots are looking like Dairy Milk ones, Tanishq has resorted to married couple camaraderie – old leaf of the festive TVC handbook. Aditya Birla Group’s Idea, however, brings us a newish equation – shop keeper and semi-broke customer.
Last fortnight, we spotted the rehash of the telecom company’s ‘Walk and Talk’ and other Abhishek Bachchan spots. Okay then, someone’s taken a long privilege leave, we assumed. But in came this short and sweet spot, and the job’s nearly done – smiles induced and gooey feeling given.
Idea’s biggest asset, its signature tune is this spot’s best feature too, and its Islamised version, dissected in bits and served with a flourish in the end gives the visuals a charming, festive feel.
The idea isn’t really ‘what an idea, sirjee’, but works nonetheless for the cash crunching middle-class audience (also the core of Tanishq’s ad). Diwali discounts are hearty surprises for everyone, and even though most of them are garbed within clever profitable motives, what the heck, shopping must be done by the bagful.
Wait, but where’s the ‘phone network’ connect in all this? There’s a forced ‘Idea’ mention with the guy promptly emails his wife a picture of the watch he’s just bought, but we’re not complaining. Besides, the only words spoken in the ad (see description above) are pretty heart-warming too.
So this guy with an internet-enabled smart phone finds a watch costly? And wait, isn’t this ‘Muslims celebrating Diwali – so cute’ idea quite stereotypical and TimesofIndia-like? Also, doesn’t it make the spot economically ‘racist’ by portraying a community as middleclass? Never mind all that, if this made you smile, go savour a rich kesar kheer on our behalf. Let the festivities begin!
Happy Diwali!
To watch the spot, feed this link in your browser - Goo. gl/itMGr
