Campaign : Role reversal
Brand : Alpenliebe
Company : Perfetti Van Melle India
Agency : McCann Erickson
The Campaign
The TV ad opens with a monkey faced Madaari or animal handler with a stick trying to make someone come down the tree. Seeing his desperation, two kids, who again have monkey faces, walk up to him and give him an Alpenliebe candy to tempt the person down. Seeing the Alpenliebe candy, a dimunitive Kajol, jumps down to get the candy. Seeing it work, the juggler asks her to perform like a monkey. She does it for a while and then realizes that the handler has no intentions of giving her the candy and instead is making her dance to his commands. She bares her teeth and threatens to run away to Bollywood as she has lots of connections there. Not wanting to let go of his prized heroine, the master gives her the candy and the crowd breaks into an applause. The next shot shows the various stages of human evolution and then the reverse ? of man turning into the ape again, with the voice-over saying, ?Aadmi ho ya bander, lalaach ek shaswat sach hai.? (Whether it?s human or monkey, greed is an unchallengeable truth). The last shot has the handler happily cycling off with Kajol sitting on the handlebar enjoying an Alpenliebe.
Our Take
It looks like Perfetti has a knack for picking up innovative ideas to market its products. The latest ad of Alpenliebe shows just that. The concept of role reversal is not new but the application in this case is unique, engaging and entertaining. In all the previous campaigns, it was Bollywood actor Kajol who would lure others with the Alpenliebe candy but in this ad it is she who cannot resist the temptation. In addition, the brand ambassador Kajol does full justice to her role and displays her acumen as an actress in just 50 seconds. The concept, performance and execution is something which will linger on in the minds of the viewers. Being different, the ad will surely help in brand recall and make it stand out of the crowd.
Ratings
*****