http://www.telegraphindia.com/1150517/jsp/7days/story_20477.jsp Ad makers and companies are pushing the envelope with advertisements celebrating the differently abled. V. Kumara Swamy looks at why they are going beyond the conventional
SELLING POINT:The VIP suitcase ad on a visually impaired girl who sets off to Europe with two friends Granddad is worried. His teenage granddaughter is visually impaired, but is off to Europe on a holiday with two friends. But the young girl is confident. For giving her company is a set of "light, sturdy, easy to move" strolleys. When the VIP Industries' television commercial went on air last week, it joined a clutch of advertisements celebrating the differently abled. HDFC Life's "Ghungroo" is a part of its "Sar Uthake Jiyo" (raise your head and live) campaign in which a father helps his daughter with a prosthetic leg to realise her dreams of dancing. A single father deals with his autistic son in "Khud Ko Kar Buland" (free yourself) by Birla Sun Life. Dabur Vatika focuses on a cancer survivor who has lost her hair because of chemotherapy. A stand-up comedian overcomes his fear of stammering in a Nescafé commercial. "Society is not uni-dimensional and such ads remind us that we need to take everybody on board," points out Prasoon Joshi, chairman, McCann World Group Asia Pacific and CEO, McCann India. "If an ad is done with the heart in the right place the message will get across, as it has happened with these ads," adds Joshi, whose agency created the VIP and Nescafé commercials. The 40-second VIP commercial - shot by Queen director Vikas Bahl - portrays a "confident India" through the visually impaired girl with a subtle display of the brand, he adds. When McCann Erickson first pitched for this ad, VIP took some time to come on board. "To be honest we were a bit apprehensive when we heard this idea," Sudip Ghose, vice-president, marketing, VIP Industries admits. "Generally luggage ads have people jumping up and down throwing their bags around to show how sturdy and light they are and all that. But in the end, as a leader in the market, we thought VIP should stand out. I am glad we did that," Ghose says. The ad was first aired on May 8, and Ghose says that the response has been "phenomenal". Prateek Bhardwaj of McCann Erickson, who worked on the Nescafé ad The focus of television advertisements - a Rs 22,500 crore-market, growing by around 15 per cent each year - seems to be changing. Raj Deepak Das, chief creative officer, Leo Burnett, and the brain behind the HDFC Life ad, says that clients are now willing to look at real-life situations. "I could see tears welling up in eyes of the HDFC Life people when we pitched this ad. I knew that we had hit the right spot," Das recalls. Directed by another Bollywood star filmmaker, Vikramaditya Motwane, the three-minute film was aired for the first time in January this year. "The father is not just helping his young daughter with a prosthetic leg but is also instilling self-belief in her, making her feel that she can stand on her own feet when she faces any odds. That's the message the brand also wants to convey to its potential customers," Das says. Clearly, some ad makers are pushing the envelope - and winning acclaim. Most ads may still celebrate the pretty little girl with lovely hair and make fun of the fat boy in school, but some have a message that goes beyond the product. The Nescafé television commercial, aired first in September, for instance, focuses on an aspiring stand-up comedian with a speech impediment, who ends up impressing his audience while turning a weakness into his strength. "The stammering protagonist was meant to portray the positive human spirit of steadfast determination in the face of challenges," says Nayla Sioufi, general manager, coffee and beverages, Nestlé India. Nestlé was on board as soon as this idea was pitched. "Like their coffee, they agreed to our idea instantly," jokes Prateek Bhardwaj, National Creative Director, McCann Erickson, who worked on the Nescafé ad. Bharadwaj says that his ad agency was clear from the start that it would not be a "pity" film. And the emotion wasn't that of pity. "The intention was to make a joyous film rather than just a funny one, and I think we were successful there," he says. That the filmmakers take care not to let "pity" overtake the message is perhaps the reason the ads click. "The beauty about these ads is that nobody is portrayed as a victim. They are rather the underdogs who overcome a weakness and come on top as winners," says theatre-actor Hussain Dalal, who acts as the stand-up comic. But nothing pleases everybody. Soon after it was aired, adman Suhel Seth called it "stupid" on Twitter. "I can remember only two people telling me that they didn't like the ad. And I have met hundreds who loved it," adds Dalal, describing the ad as groundbreaking. Indeed, some of these advertisements are entering into areas where few commercials earlier went. Who would have thought that a bald pate caused by cancer treatment would one day be celebrated in an advertisement for a shampoo and hair oil brand? But that's exactly what Jaideep Mahajan and his team at Linen Lintas came up with when Dabur wanted a socially relevant advertisement. Mahajan believes that the "biggest change" he sees has happened at the company level. "We ad makers were always ready to stretch our imagination. But companies are now bold and ready to let their brands stand for something. In this ad what we tried to portray is that the fight and win against cancer is more beautiful than your hair," Mahajan says. Jaideep Mahajan (below), whose team created the Dabur Vatika ad featuring a cancer patient HDFC states that it went for the father-daughter ad because it conveyed the concept of making a family self-reliant. "We liked the idea as the characters were relatable, their interaction made for a beautiful and emotional story and clearly delineated the role the brand could play," says Sanjay Tripathy, senior executive vice-president (marketing, product, digital and e-commerce), HDFC. These ads have been runaway hits online, too. For instance, the Dabur Vatika ad has 2.38 million views on YouTube, HDFC Life ad has a total of 5.2 million views while the Birla Sun Life Insurance has had as many as 4.3 million people viewing it on YouTube. The Nescafé ad has been viewed 5.35 million times. "Our ad inspired thousands of cancer survivors to share their stories with Dabur Vatika and they have instituted awards for the most inspiring people. What more can an adman ask for," Mahajan says. Across the industry hosannahs are being sung. Saurabh Parmar of Brandlogist Communications, a brand consultancy, is all for advertising becoming more inclusive. "Advertising is all about creating an emotional connect and these commercials are obviously emotive. However, brands need to be careful and sensitive," he says. Even activists are happy with what they see. "Advertising obviously plays a huge role in social messaging. If a positive image is projected of a person with disability as just another human being, as an equal member of society, I am sure it would have a positive impact," says disability rights activist Javed Abidi. Perhaps, over time, these ads will change people's largely insensitive attitude to the differently abled. "Because these ads are repeated on TV, the message tiptoes into the subconsciousness of the people," Joshi says. After dealing with "normal subjects and normal people" for too long, its time for a paradigm shift, he says. -- Avinash Shahi Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
