This ad from Micromax can be considered offensive as it dwells deep in uncomfortable stereotypes. And layering it with humour does not dilute the negative impact
Campaign: Colour come alive
Brand: Canvas HD mobile handset
Company : Micromax
Agency: Lowe Lintas and Partners
The Campaign
The ad opens with prisoners lined up before a firing squad. At the signal of the commander, the prisoners are fired at. After being shot, the prisoners realise that they are alive, drenched in colour. The soldiers fire more rounds but instead of bullets, the guns fire a blast of colours again. Everything around now look like a canvas painted with colours. The voice-over says, ?Colours can come alive?. A photographer holds up his Micromax Canvas HD phone to capture the happy images of the prisoners. The ad ends with the voice over: ?Micromax Canvas HD with quad core processor- it?s nothing like anything?.
Our Take
?It’s nothing like anything.? For the uninitiated, that’s the Micromax tagline. Of course, they mean it in a good way. This ad too is nothing like anything. And we really don’t mean it in a good way. This campaign can be considered offensive and in poor taste and it dwells deep in uncomfortable stereotypes ? racial, regional and political. It is insensitive to millions who’ve lost lives at the hands of firing squads under repressive and dictatorial regimes across the globe. The content is dangerous, particularly for consumption by children. And we don’t really think that ideas of creative freedom hold much ground here. It’s advertising, not cinema. As a viewer I have the freedom to not watch a particular film or a TV show, but do I really get that choice for advertisements which are essentially insertions while the viewer is consuming the content that he chooses? And what good does it do the Micromax brand anyway? Some say that any publicity is good publicity but can the same be said for advertising,where the whole idea is to present a positive brand image?
Humour is an effective tool. Humour is also a dangerous tool. Micromax has scored a self-goal here by layering the insensitive visuals with bits of humour. They could have easily chosen some other backdrop to highlight their central communication of high definition colour display. In fact, the earlier campaign that the company ran for its Canvas handset was one of the better Micromax ads over the years since the company’s entry into the market a few years ago. The company should ponder over how it is positioning its brand in the market and what sort of a response does it want to evoke from the consumers and the viewers. Showing violent mass executions and reinforcing stereotypes could have been avoided. We’re not saying that it was the intent of the brand to do so. Just that the visual medium is very strong when it comes to impact and there are chances of going wrong, and going overboard. Unfortunately, this ad contradicts its objective.
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