By Malay Desai
From:Germany, by Jung von Matt
Supermarket corporation Edeka in November end launched a commercial which has since gone viral. It’s a short tale of an old man living alone and failing to see any of his family members home on Christmas. After shots of him having dinner alone interspersed by telephone messages of the family being busy, he fakes his death. On receiving the communication, his kin across the world are shocked and gather together, leaving their busy lives. Upon reaching, they find the old man alive, and asking ‘How else could I have brought you all together?’
Why we Like?
The last time I featured the German agency Jung von Matt, it was the first ever column here. Over four years later, I’m glad to report Matt is max-sized now, handling biggies such as Mercedes, Vodafone and Nike and still retaining the ability to tell a tale with a punch.
Homecoming as a central idea has been around from the early days of Coca-Cola, and it often leads to simple tearjerker ideas featuring children, hostelite students, soldiers and assorted characters. But do tearjerkers, with their big budgets and emotional punchlines, work anymore? They may get viral, but are they memorable?
Well, this one just might be both. Edeka, a sort of a Big Bazaar with more class is Germany’s giant corporation, having over 4,000 stores. Why would a supermarket brand, the epitome of urban consumerism, want to spend large funds in films that say nothing about their brands, or services, or hygiene, or offers? Short answer – to ‘not’ appear as the epitome of urban consumerism.
The motive is to show heart, and what better an occasion to do that than the Diwali of the West? More so, what better a character than a frail old man, who cooks for all but eventually dines alone. Cue – global sigh of ‘aww’ – tears loaded. Next thing we know, he arranges his funeral, and expectedly, the loving-but-busy family rushes in. The climax, when he appears and just says what he does, cue ‘global sigh of aww x 10’ – tears fire!
Backed by a specially composed song to guarantee sustained tears, this film is complete, the JVM should be celebrating an early X’mas already. It’s been the talk on social networks worldwide, and thanks to the early timing, will be in the buzz until the next three weeks. Will Germans head more to Edeka than other chains after this? No, but those who are already going, will feel better to be shopping with a corporation that has a soft corner for old people. Or kids. Or maybe it just has a big budget.
Does Big Bazaar have a big advertising budget? Yes. Will it invest in an ad which tells an emotional story and fortifies its image rather than explicitly nailing its ‘5 per cent discount on aloo/pyaz’ in our faces? Let’s hope it does!
(To watch this commercial, enter ‘bit.ly/Dec7ad in your browser)
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