The Ad

The commercial (Neighbour) shows a young man and his mother packing up their things. As the doorbell rings, he opens the door to find a letter along with a small gift box. After reading the first couple of lines, he realises that the letter is written by his old neighbour, reminiscing about how much he will be missed, with an emotional storyline about Parle-G thrown in. Seeing a packet of Parle-G in the gift box, the man smiles, waving at his old neighbour. The voiceover puts up a question — ‘Aap kise kahoge you are my Parle-G?’

Target Audience

Pan India, particularly children and their parents.

Business Objective

To rekindle the fond memories one has with Parle-G and to celebrate the emotional bond with the consumer.

The Appeal

Emotional

The film attempts to capture the importance of a relationship which we usually take for granted. Neighbour shows how because of Parle-G, an old man and a young boy share a very close bond. The other four films in the campaign explore a similar theme.

Competitive Edge

Parle-G, being a legacy player in the glucose biscuits category, is consumed by people from varied socioeconomic backgrounds. The films showcase the wide range of people that the brand caters to, and clearly plays upon the heritage of the brand.

Tone of Voice

Nostalgic, emotional

Verdict

Parle-G is well known for its classic ads, be it G Maane Genius 10 years back or Roko Mat Toko Mat — Kal ke Genius which was released in 2013. Whenever one makes a collection of classic ads, these TVCs make it to the list because of their simplicity and emotional appeal. The recently launched five films for the YouAreMyParleG campaign miserably fail to match previous campaigns. The films try to depict that we only miss and value easily available people/relationships once they are far away from us because that is when we realise that they have become a part of our daily lives. This messaging adequately comes out through its films.

The problem starts when they connect it with the brand, with ‘Main toh mere Parle-G ko bohot miss karunga’. Now, no matter how much you value the easily accessible Parle-G — which, in fact, is consumed by a rickshaw puller and a CEO at the same time — to compare a pack of biscuits to a human being is stretching it a bit much.

India is highly expressive when it comes to showering affection through words — using ‘aww’ and ‘my shona bachha’ or ‘my raja bachha’, ‘aww my super dad/mom’; even the Idea-driven ‘You are my honey bunny’ with a cheek pull happens regularly in this country. The common aspect in all adjectives is that they are aspirational. ‘Aww you are my Parle-G’ is certainly the odd one out. No matter how much of a necessity the biscuit is, if someone is called a Parle-G, due to the sheer inexpensive and accessible aspect of the brand, the person is sure to get offended.

Personifying a brand rarely works, and if it does, it is a stroke of genius. Parle-G, in its attempt to be the sweet old brand, may have pushed the envelope a bit too much.

Rating: 5/10

Agency: Taproot Dentsu

Brand: Parle-G

Campaign: #YouAreMyParleG

Production House: Red Ice

@anirban90rc