Tag: v

By Anil Thakraney

7UP is back this summer with the same positioning: ‘I feel up’. But the commercial I watched did anything but. Because there’s a clear problem with the ad, and we’ll come to that shortly.

So this young girl is accosted on a street by a Kathakali performer. He offers her a 7UP, switches on his portable deck, and starts grooving. Not to classical music, but to a mix of desi pop, dandiya, salsa and god knows what else. This scene naturally gathers a crowd around them, and for some strange reason, our girl feels ‘up’.

Didn’t work for me, though. For one, the commercial tries very hard to be different in order to attract your attention. And that often puts you off as a viewer. The effort must never show, this should be a natural process. Two, 7UP’s earlier TVC with actor Sharman Joshi and a penguin was at least a little lively and peppy. This one leaves you cold (and that’s no thanks to the cold drink). Where the new commercial fails, is that while trying to be ‘different’, the creators overlooked one very important aspect of light-hearted, quirky, cold drink advertising: The ad should leave a little smile on your face. If that doesn’t happen, there’s no question of feeling ‘up’.

A side-note: I would be shocked if, on a street corner, a strange looking character tapped me on my shoulder and offered me a free drink. And if I was a girl, I would flee. And then quickly Tweet/FB my experience. Now THAT would make me feel ‘up’. 🙂

Rating: (On a scale of 1-5): 1.5 Tries too hard to entertain. Fails.