Colgate's about turn or is it turnaround?

I came across this Colgate Charcoal toothpaste ad yesterday or the day before… As I am an ads freak numerous thoughts crossed my mind in the 30 seconds while this ad was going on…

A new variant to fool people.

Next butt of joke like 'Kya aapke toothpaste mein namak hai?'

I remembered a couple of people who used to brush their teeth with a black tooth powder or real charcoal. Maybe they have launched this to capture that traditional market.

Charcoal face scrubs that the likes of Kohli, John Abraham and Saif Ali Khan sell.

But in the back of my mind something kept nagging, these are not the things, there is another connection. And, the creative visualisation of charcoal powder stayed with me.

Then Colgate tooth powder came in: charcoal is rough and can harm your teeth. So, switch to the white and smooth Colgate tooth powder with the Ring of Confidence.

I couldn't locate the video of that ad… But could find the transcript of the Ad from here.

Colgate Tooth Powder: Two versions of the tooth powder ad.

Version one: muscular country bumpkin is out in the yard, with his weights, in front of a couple of buffalo.

Bumpkin: Arrey Bhabhi, zara mera doodh-badaam aur koyla dena to! 

Bhabhi: Arrey wah, devarji, badan ke doodh-badaam, aur daaton ke liye koyla?! [Scene change, shows graphic of gums and teeth up close]

Voice-over: Khurdare padaarth daaton ki parakh kharaab kar sakte hain.... [Use Colgate Tooth Powder, blah blah blah]
 

This Ad was telecast nearly 25-30 years back on DD and Colgate may have forgotten about it or have they suddenly woken up to the quality of charcoal?

Trust Deficit – The Kalyan Jewellers Way

It was the most anticipated event in the Malayalam Entertainment World in the recent times, that of Manju Warrier facing the movie camera after fourteen long years and that too paired with the Big B himself for a jewellers' TV Commercial (it being just an ad film was a non-issue). The TV Channels and the media in general was flooded with the 'behind the scenes' stories of the shoot.

Kalyan Jewellers, the brand they were promoting may have got enough mileage for their budget with this pre-release publicity itself. But, the final result to put it simply is a damper, it stretches its  "VISWASAM ATHALLE ELLAM"  (Isn't Trust Everything) tagline a little further. In the past, we had a young woman dropping the idea of eloping with her boyfriend and returning home so as to not to breach the trust of her father. And, here we have a daughter (Manju) playing a trick of sorts to win her dad (Amitabh Bachchan) back after marrying the man of her choice.

This storyline would have worked wonders a decade or two back. Or, it would have been plausible with lesser known actors. But, in this day and age imagining Bachchan as a dad who severs ties with his daughter just because she has selected her own life partner is difficult if not impossible. Similarly, Manju, who has played a few firebrand roles in short but memorable career, risking her own life as well as her unborn child win back her father borders on being regressive.

If you don't believe me, see for yourself:

Tanishq Mia – Nithya Menen and the paradigm shift

Last Sunday (14 July), while watching the final day of the first test match of Ashes 2013 and expecting Ashton Agar to do an encore of his first innings performance. Eventually, that did not happen. But, something else caught my attention; it was Nithya Menen, she appeared in a commercial in between the overs (I'm not an avid channel-surfer and do not really get annoyed by the 'commercial breaks'). The first time I just rubbed my eyes (figuratively) and confirmed that it was her and she was appearing in an ad for Tanishq.

The most striking thing about this campaign is the fact that it takes the notion that women should dress and look sober in the workplace to the point of being unattractive head on, it underscores the fact that if you are confident about your work it does not really matter if your glamour quotient is a notch higher. This attitudinal shift may be the result of the anger, furore and debate that ensued after the unfortunate Nirbhaya Case last year.

Here we have a young girl Megha (Nithya) immersed in her work, her boss comes to check on her and says a few appreciative words before Megha's (maybe the first) big presentation. But, as a parting shot she advises Megha to remove her hanging earrings as they would distract the clients. The boss herself has dressed simply in plain blue saree and white blouse without any adornment to speak of leave any makeup. She may have thought her protege needed some understanding in workday dress code.

The masterstroke comes when Megha utters  ‘Don’t worry. The presentation looks even better than me’ as a reply to her boss' questioning look as to why her advise went unheeded.

There is a marked improvement in the approach if we compare this ad with the series of ads that came initially targeting the working women:

This spot also does away with the usual format of man buying/gifting jewellery, as shown here:

and here: