Remember the advertisement of Dhara cooking oil where the little kid says, “Jalebi...!”? Even though the advertisement was broadcast on Indian television more than a decade ago, it is still etched in our memories. Probably, the only reason for this is the kid innocently saying “Jalebi...!”
Circa 2012, and we are witnessing a similar trend in advertising in India
This is an interesting and important development in a society, obsessed with advertisements featuring cricketers and Bollywood stars. All the sectors, at some stage or the other, have used the most popular names in cricket and Bollywood. From Amitabh Bachchan to Hrithik Roshan and from Sachin Tendulkar to Virat Kohli, actors and cricketers across generations have featured in multiple advertisements. And it has definitely fetched a lot of success to all the brands.
It thus becomes more interesting to understand, why kids have been used in advertisements for products, which are not meant for their age.
One reason is lowering stocks of cricketers due to repeated on-field failures. These failures have significantly diluted the popularity of all the cricketers, including Sachin Tendulkar and Dhoni, who were the toast of the nation after winning the Cricket World Cup in April 2011. Post that success, the Indian cricket team has failed in most of the tours and this has hit the market value of the game and cricketers. At the same time, some of the film stars have also been involved in “slap gates”, which has earned them negative publicity, which has had an impact on their advertising potential.
Also, there has been significant negativity and pessimism across the country because of new scandals and scams coming into the open. The society is feeling cheated because of these news coming up every second day. The moral values of our culture seem to have gone for a toss. It seems that we no longer trust adults with morals and ethics.
What better way, than to portray the innocence of kids, to win over this gloomy scenario. Indeed, kids symbolize innocence. Also, they bring freshness of thought and enthusiasm with their presence. Add to this, the easy association a kid can establish with not only kids, but all the generations. Another important aspect is the fact that in these advertisements, even if the kids are acting or being their usual self, they are very adorable and make the act very believable (and convincing). This adds a phenomenal value to the brand, of assurance and trust.
Prasoon Joshi, who has written the new jingle for Coca Cola, would surely agree to all of this. That is probably the reason he crafts all those kids to tell us, “Ummidon waali dhoop, sunshine waali asha…”
“The future of this country”, is shaping today’s advertisements; ‘Already’!!
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