By A Correspondent
Detergent powder brand, Surf Excel, has historically stayed away from making laundry problems and solutions the hero of its communication. This started in 2005, when Surf Excel launched the unique concept of “dirt is good” in India with the iconic puddle war ad. And every year since, Surf Excel has come up with commercials propagating this brand philosophy – whether it is to make a little sister smile, or stop a raging fight between adults, or being a bigger person and forgiving friends. Surf Excel repeatedly demonstrates to mothers that children experience and learn about life through dirt.
The new commercial conceptualized by Lowe Lintas and Partners is set in the context that kids today are exposed to lots of violence and anger and grow up believing that this is the way of life. With this commercial, Surf Excel demonstrates the value of “baddappan” and how a situation can be turned around without any negative overtones by a child who thinks and behaves differently
We see a team of young kids engrossed in their post-school cricket match, when a team of seniors enters the pitch and bullies these kids to abandon the ground in the middle of their session. While a heated brawl is underway between the bowler and the senior, a member of the younger team calmly walks up to the two of them and attempts resolving with reason. On being met with a violent response, the kid then takes adopts a unique path – he cheekily offers to make peace with the elders by offering them a muddy hug!
Since most of us may have been in a similar scenario of bullying at some point in our lives, this ad leaves us with the good feeling that not always do we need to resort to violence. The ad in its own tongue-in-cheek way communicates the good of being the bigger person in a situation.
CREDITS
Creative: Arun Iyer, Ramkrishna Gopi Yadav, AP Zeth, Aarti Srinivasan, Sushant Joshi
Business: Virat Tandon, Tarannum Romani, Suchana Sarkar, Haripriya Mishra
Planning: Saji Abraham, Mani KB
Films: Riddhi Mehta
Production House: Footcandles Films
Director: Vinil Math