Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Not Celebrities But Excellent Actors


David Ogilvy – advertising guru--- once said that when advertisers run out of ideas they take the celebrity route. I couldn’t agree more. With celebrities indiscriminately endorsing everything and anything I soon lose track of the product and only remember the celebrity. While the celebrities laugh all the way to the bank I miss commercials which have a good script and most importantly actors who are not celebrities but excellent performers. Here are a few commercials which I for one rate as unforgettable.


The naukri.com ads - well one doesn’t need to discuss them in detail the script and the performances say it all. While the actor playing Hari Sadhu became a legend (if the word legend is considered an exaggeration then I confess I do not mind exaggerating) of sorts portraying the grumpy boss, the two employees, even the one in the background who is desperately trying to please the boss by preparing his tea but at the same time suggesting S for Shameless, are a treat to watch.

This so called ‘shayar’ (poet) in a make believe mushaira is hilarious without even delivering a single word. Why did Alpenliebe have to jump onto the celebrity bandwagon and sign on Kajol? They were doing fine without the celebrity.

Here the actor initially looks so serious - with a subtle comic touch - as he reflects on the design of the Bingo Mad Angle almost as if he is deliberating on some groundbreaking product design or something.

4 comments:

  1. It's the same with television shows. They don't trust their ideas and use celebrities.

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  2. You are right. In the past Hussain Kuwajerwala, Aman Verma and Sonu Nigam (Nigam was then just a struggling singer) became stars by hosting and anchoring shows, but today thanks to the rush to sign on celebrities this door has been shut. Does this mean that we will be deprived of the opportunity to see new faces?

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  3. सेलिब्रिट्स के बजाय अगर क्रियेटिव आइडिया पर जोर दिया जाय तो मेरे हिसाब से वो ज्यादा बेहतर है। जूजू ऐड में देखिए...कोई बड़ा कलाकार नहीं, फिर भी लोग जूजू देखते थे और उन्हें अच्छा लगता था।

    दूसरी ओर अल्पेन लिबे वाला वो ऐड जिसमें बंदा बच्चे से पूछता है देख पिछे गाडी लगा क्या ....लगा तब गाड़ी ठुकने के बाद बच्चा कहता है अब लग गया...जैसी बातें लोगों को आकर्षित करती हैं न कि फिल्म स्टार्स पर पैसे बरबाद करना।

    सचिन तेंदुलकर जब बिस्किट बेचे तो वह बेहद चीप लगता है....बेहतर होता कुछ क्रिएटिव कॉन्सेप्ट सोचा जाता।

    जितने में फिल्म स्टार्स को पैसे दिए जाएं उससे आधा पैसा भी क्रिएटिव स्क्रिप्ट लिखने वाले लेखको को मिले तो ऐड हिट होना तय है।

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  4. Yes you are right, the emphasis should be on the idea and the script and not on the star. By the way the ad you referred to is Candyman --- Natkhat Mango and not Alpenliebe.Here is the ad's youtube URL:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAIE5TaDLtA

    ReplyDelete