By Malay Desai
From: Argentina, by Grey
A one-minute film for Magistral dishwashing detergent begins with various men being taken by their wives/girlfriends to medical test centres. After shots of them waiting for check-ups, the men are shown as preparing for tests such as a CT scan and an ECG. They are then handed over a plate with a drop of Magistral liquid which they then proceed to scrub. Next, the couples are shown in a cabin, where a doctor reports that there’s everything fine with the man. ‘Contrary to what most men think, doing the dishes won’t harm them,’ reads the copy across the screen, followed by visuals of the woman storming out of the cabin.
Why we like ?
Let’s call this the ‘Hawa Badlegi’ route of advertising for better understanding. Admirers of Havells commercials, one of the only contemporary ad campaigns in India that can safely be dubbed ‘progressive’, you’d be happy to know that this method is being practiced overseas too, and it’s the women who are LOL-ing in all of them.
Nearly half a century after household brands, mostly cigarettes, objectified women and projected massive stereotypes without a hint of sarcasm, the tide has been changing and gender equality has long entered the cool-th domain. The opportunities are aplenty, take a bunch of manly behaviours and make a wicked storyboard of a woman fighting back – as Havells has recently done in a string of women-centric films.
But to achieve humour through drama is one thing, and to effectively employ sarcasm to sell a brand is quite another. Magistral here has done the latter, in a tone so straight faced, you might mistake it for an insurance ad until the joke hits you.
The P&G brand here has done well to depict seriousness and suspense. Multiple couples (with men constantly in focus) visiting test centres definitely put you in a curious zone, and the serious score and camera angles add to the moroseness.
That said, on one hand when the film has ticked many boxes in the edgy advertising list – with guerilla style cameras, minimum dialogue for instance – it carries a delightful old-world element that’s rare these days. The punchline. It’s classically introduced toward the end of a mostly confounding film, and hence emanates enough hilarity to leave you laughing for long. Young copy writers, note that a punchline in TV ads, unlike print have little to do with word play and more with timing and relevance.
The universal stereotypes of men being lazy and wives being dominating can spurn many creative campaigns. We wonder if we’re moving toward an era in ads where there would be sexist works against men! (No wait, India is still far far away from that galaxy.)
To watch this film, feed this link into your browser ~ Bit.ly/ViewTubeJune9
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