Okay, so I’m going to dive right into it with the campaign that was on top of my cringe list. The worst part is that all my ad friends fell so madly in love with the campaign I had to stop meeting them for a while, so that we didn’t get into fights.

Kenwood

• Brand: Kenwood
• Campaign: Insan koi machine tu nahi
• Message: Congratulations, your husband is not a jerk.
• Synopsis: Just shoot me now! Granted the production value of the commercials was absolutely fantastic. The actors really made an emotional connection with the audience right up to the rudely shocking is-it-me-or-is-this-sexist moment? Though it seems I’m the only person on Planet Ad who thinks these ads sell women short! Seriously! Tum nay mujh par kabhi shout nahi kiya is why she is madly in love with him and why she will cook and clean for him! Come on girls, don’t we all want more from life than an air conditioner and a man who doesn’t go crazy if you burn his shirt. So the message here is: most husbands are ungrateful, obnoxious and a little bit psychotic, so aren’t you just the lucky one. Here, this is a washing machine. Yes I know the hashtags and re-shares spread like wildfire and I’m certain the sales shot through the roof but I can’t keep quiet about this anymore.
• Verdict: Something deeply disturbing there.

Olpers

• Brand: Olper’s
• Campaign: Olper’s Ramzan Mubarak
• Message: I Dove You
• Synopsis: Okay, now everyone is going to hate me even more because who in their right mind does not love Abdul Sattar Edhi. So let me set the record poker straight here: I LOVE Abdul Sattar Edhi!! Of course I do! But I think when we were told in ad kindergarten that you have got your audience if you can make them either laugh or cry, some of us took this to literally mean that every FMCG TVC brand ambassador should cry… a lot!!! The more you weep the more your consumers will buy. So I have to admit the Olper’s Edhi TVC to me was a nah!!!! The concept was mundane the tears forced the emotional appeal way over the top to ring true. No, didn’t like the doves either. The doves were… what… why… I don’t know!!! But hey some people love doves and it makes them buy milk, so who am I to judge?
  
• Verdict: No love! Lose the dove.

Coca-Cola

• Brand: Coca-Cola
  
• Campaign: Share a Coke
  
• Message: Share a Coke duh!
  
• Synposis: Yeah! Nice! Great adaptation. Great script. The acting was a tad bit over the top, could be more ‘real’. But overall Share a Coke is refreshing. Oh and I loved the customised bottles Lotus did for the PR. Also enjoyed the spoofs… A spoof is the biggest compliment an Ad (Wo)Man can get.
  
• Verdict: Clutter breaker

Oreo

• Brand: Oreo
  
• Campaign: Twist karo
  
• Message: I just want to eat you up.
  
• Synposis: Okay so on to cuter stuff. I want to kidnap the Oreo kids and bring them home and bring them up as my own and have tons of happy Oreo moments together! OMG, isn’t that the emotional appeal they spoke about in business school and look Oreo did it without crying buckets! They did it with giggles. I love the whole twist karo, lick karo, dunk karo, not just because I am immature and actually dunk the creamy side of the cookie in my coffee but also because it’s smart thinking from the concept writers. They are creating a brand signature. They are getting into your life, breaking the pattern of how you eat an Oreo and pegging a hook right there by making you twist a biscuit and unlock the two yummy sides. Oreo is owning Twist, Lick, Dunk. I’m telling you if you ever twist, lick, dunk a Prince or Britannica Bourbon you will feel like you are cheating on Oreo and that to me is fantastic advertising. Those hooks and triggers are what build brand loyalty.
  
• Verdict: I # you

Nando's

• Brand: Nando’s
  
• Campaign: That was Fast (Ramzan Outdoor)
  
• Message: We get it! You’re hungry! Eat this.
• Synposis: As I download most of my TV via Utorrents, billboards are my favourite thing in the world. And what I look for in a brand is consistency and a great sense of humour (same as what I look for in a man). Nando’s makes me laugh out loud every single time (followed by a nasty pain of ad-envy in the pit of my stomach). How can you not love the ‘That was fast now get back to the daily chick chick.’ Brilliant!
  Verdict: Those who liked this also loved ‘Eid, Pray, Love’.