Campaign: Skating
Brand: Santoor PureGlo
Company: Wipro
Agency: DraftFCB + Ulka Advertising
The Campaign
Winters are beautiful. More so, when you are ice skating in picturesque snow capped mountains. The commercial opens in on a young female protagonist effortlessly gliding on roller skates. She is watched admiringly by a young woman. The young woman is hugely distracted with the protagonist?s glowing skin and she approaches her in order to ask her the secret of her beautiful skin. After all, winters are particularly harsh on the female complexion. She gets her answer. The answer lies in Santoor PureGlo soap, equipped with its magical properties. Soon after, a female voice-over takes charge and reveals that Santoor PureGlo helps moisturise skin with its natural ingredients?glycerin, honey, and almond oil. This way, the skin stays young and youthful, even in winters. The awestruck girl asks the Santoor girl which college she is from. Almost simultaneously, a little girl calls out to her. Our protagonist is not a student. She is a mother. As the lady turns and runs towards her child, the other girl watches her in surprise. The voice overcomes in, ?Nikhri twacha sardiyon me bhi?, (glowing skin even during winters).
Our Take
This particular commercial drives home the point that winters are harsh on the female skin, and Santoor with its special ingredients protects and cherishes the skin. Simple enough to understand. Santoor has always been the secret to younger looking skin. The positioning for the brand has remained much the same since a good many years now. Remember the advert of a young woman in an aerobics class who gets mistaken for a college student? This ad simply is another rendition of the same thought. To take the admirer by surprise. But does it take the audience by surprise? Unfortunately, not. While the latest commercial sticks to the brand?s basic essence, the execution is a yawn. Dull and boring and old wine served in an older bottle. The voiceover (narration) is overpowering, and the characters are reduced to mere props. Who are these women? They are not characters with any identifiable personality traits and there is no semblance of a story here. The commercial doesn?t entertain and it also panders to stereotypes. Why should a brand assume that a mother cannot look young and vibrant? The commercial is clich?d and belongs a good many years back in time.