Updated 04 Aug, 2015 11:27am

Clean cut ads for a not-so-clean world

Have you ever watched a Pakistani commercial and wondered, Yeh kaunsi duniya hai? (Which world is this?) Or, to be more specific, why does everything seem so clean, so perfect, and so IDEAL?

Let’s look at some examples:

The newsboy cap on the old man’s head is SO typical! How many daadas or naanas actually wear a newsboy cap?

Nestle - Pyaray Pakistan TVC 2015

Nestle - Pyaray Pakistan TVC 2015Production: Art Noir Agency: Red Communication Arts Talent: Citrus Talent

Posted by Advertistan on Friday, July 3, 2015

Do our postmen look like this?

Rafhan TVC 2015

Rafhan TVC 2015 Production: Page33 Agency: JWTDirector: Saqib Malik Producer: Hamza Gillani D.O.P: Mo Azmi Production Design: Muhammad Murtaza Styling: Aneela Murtaza Talent: Citrus TalentAD: Raeed Mohammad Alam Post: Yellow Bean PostMusic: Imran Ali

Posted by Advertistan on Monday, June 29, 2015

One could be forgiven for believing that Rafhan would not be the brand of choice for someone living in a house like that.

Head & Shoulders - Classic Clean TVC 2014

Head & Shoulders - Classic Clean TVC 2014Agency: IAL Saatchi & Saatchi

Posted by Advertistan on Monday, December 22, 2014

Holy crap what a clean gym!

Sprite - Mirchi ka tarka Sprite say bharka TVC 2014

Sprite - Mirchi ka tarka Sprite say bharka TVC 2014 featuring Meesha Shafi and Adeel HussainAgency: IAL Saatchi & SaatchiProduction: The Vision FactoryDirector: Asim Raza

Posted by Advertistan on Tuesday, November 25, 2014

If I received Rs 1,000 for every time I saw someone like chacha from this ad at a dhaaba then I wouldn’t have earned anything really.

The Problem
The problem with this is quite simple – it all feels artificial. It is not reality. As important as the insight is, the look of characters and the setting are equally important. Insights are used so the audience can relate to what is being communicated. The portrayal of insights will be incomplete if it doesn’t reflect reality.

India and reality: Good Indian ads, in my opinion, apart from insight, story, and script, have also nailed the look.

Here are a couple of old Indian ads; notice the way the people look, the setting, and even the lighting:


Idea - Population control

No Khushti, no Khabhdi, and so no more Aabahdi!And what's more, the remedy to control the population explosion was here :DAdvertiser: Idea

Posted by Best Ads on Saturday, June 6, 2015


Why is there such a stark difference between their execution and ours?

Our people: Pakistanis are a bit more image conscious than Indians and that is the root of the problem. This particular clean cut practice is derived from this societal tendency. Brand managers/marketing teams want their brand to be respected and a clean cut look will help achieve that. Embracing reality would be a risk.

Consumers are also image conscious and highly judgmental. What is unknown is how consumers would react to real looking people and settings in a communication – would they judge a brand to be beneath them because they don’t like what they see in the advert? Or would they connect with it more strongly?Our ads simply spell out ‘we have no idea what the reality is’; and, while societal tendencies may be a part of the problem, capability may be the other part.

Capability: The clean cut look gives the impression that the people responsible for these ads – agencies and clients – live in a shell. Does the background of the human resources holding positions at both client and agency end affect the output? It’s possible. The other factor to consider is how good our talent is at extracting insights and how much importance they attribute to deep insights. Moreover, we don’t know if their standard of deep insights does justice to the insight(s) or not. The other aspect of capability is technical; especially when it comes to lighting. Don’t we have the technological resources to shoot in light that does not seem artificial?

Having said all of this, there are a few local examples that our brands can take a lead from.

Glimmer of Hope: Though the following are limited to social media, it’s a start:

Brooke Bond Supreme

Hum nay kia apnon ko apnon say milanay ka ehed, #Eid kay mussafir hairan reh gayay, janyay kaisay! #Apnapan

Posted by Supreme on Thursday, July 16, 2015


Lipton

An Iftar like never before!Watch how #Lipton transformed iftar for Karachiites stuck in traffic jams #BeMoreTea #BrightenRamadan!

Posted by Lipton on Saturday, July 11, 2015

The above two ads have, to a large extent, managed to keep it real. It is high time someone takes the risk – if it can be called a risk at all!

The writer is a marketing enthusiast who has a knack for going into the nitty-gritty details of human behaviour to form a better perspective around strategies and tactics. He tweets @omardelkhan7

Read Comments