I wish I had made these

Two ads that Sambit Mohanty, executive creative director, McCann Erickson, counts among his favourites are the Happydent ?Palace? ad and the Dhara ‘Jalebi’ ad. ?The Happydent ad by McCann Erickson is a favourite because of its superbly surreal story… because of its fable-like exaggeration of the product benefit… because of its oh-so-hummable ?Tera dil roshan, tera man roshan? jingle and because you can watch it umpteen times without feeling fatigued. One can go on and on about this ad,? he says.

About the second ad, he says, ?I?ve been in love with this one for as long as I can remember. No long, boring product windows. No ?keep-your-heart-healthy? spiel. Just an endearing tale simply told, it brings back memories of one?s childhood and a simpler day and age,? he says.

Thank god, it isn?t me

Talking about the ads he doesn?t lie, Mohanty says, ?The Sahara Q-shop ad that depicts Tendulkar performing last rites, Yuvraj Singh as an undertaker digging a grave, etc ? to warn you of impending death if you consume adulterated food products. This ad sucks because it is morbid, morose and uses celebrities (in this case, members of the Indian cricket team) in the worst manner possible ? as messengers of gloom and doom. As an idea, I found it very basic and lazy ? for not attempting to go beyond the obvious negative connotations.?

Another ad he is happy that he has not done is the much-disliked JK Super Cement ad. ?It has a red bikini clad woman sauntering out of the sea and the voice-over intoning, ?Vishwaas hai, ismein kuch khaas hai.? Cement? Woman in bikini? Keep joining the dots! This one?s so bad, it?s good?like a mindless Govinda movie of the ’90s,? he says.

My first ad

Mohanty’s first TV commercial was a 15-second promo film for Harpic. ?It was an ad for, hold your sniggers, ?Buy a Harpic & get a mug free?. Believe it or not, it was directed by Abhinay Deo ? today, one of our top ad filmmakers and an acclaimed Bollywood director. This experience was memorable because it made me realise that producing an ad film involves hardly any glamour, but lots of sweat and toil ? something not quite apparent to people,? he says.

Mohanty is currently based out of McCann Erickson’s Delhi office as its executive creative director (ECD). He joined McCann from Bates Asia where he was the ECD for about two years.

His current stint in McCann Erickson is a homecoming of sorts since he started his career as a copywriter with this agency in 1999. He then moved up the ranks with agencies including Lowe Lintas, Publicis Advertising, VGC, Leo Burnett and Elephant Design.

His portfolio includes brands such as Dettol, Mortein, Perfette Van Melle, MSN, Chevrolet Spark, Minute Maid Pulpy Orange, Intel, MSN, Religare, Tanishq, Britannia, ABN Amro, Park Hotels and BBC World, among others.