If you work in the marketing, media or advertising fields or are friends with anyone working in these, chances are you have seen this ad. I specifically mentioned these fields because, it’s unlikely that the brand owner has spent anything on this ad (more about this in a little while).
The ad I am talking about is of course the super long and super indulgent, ‘two spoonfuls of dal’. If you haven’t seen it, watch the ad below first.
Firstly, YouTube is imparting a wrong habit among the advertising folks. The habit of creating extremely long commercials. Don’t agree? Go see what Unilever has been doing on Dove and Lifebuoy. And, unlike Adani Wilmar, Unilever thinks they can force you to see these as pre-rolls!
Media and ad agencies don’t seem to get that the average YouTuber is watching only for, and waiting for the ‘skip video’ button to appear. Instead, they seem to be myopic to videos that go viral. I have sat through a couple of ad script presentations, where, after presenting an incredibly long and winding script, the client servicing or creative guys have said, ‘we’ll run this edit on YouTube’ or, ‘this will be our viral video’!
Secondly, every 4 minute 40 seconds of this ad is pure self indulgence by the creative team. Situations are overly dramatized and stretched to the point of being all wrong. And mind you, I am all for dramatizing situations to bring out the key benefit of the product.
Check this… Why doesn’t the hospital have a lift? Why are all other beds empty? Why only the Grandma visiting? Which hospital allows visitors during or before lunch time and allows you to carry an open ‘dabba’ inside? 10 days and the guy’s condition hasn’t improved?
Thirdly, and the biggest issue I have with it is the reason for the creation of this ad.
- What are they promoting?
- If they are promoting Fortune dal / foods, how is it different and better than other branded or loose foods out there?
- If they are promoting Fortune, the brand. Is the brand so intrinsic to this ad that you can’t but recall the brand on viewing the video? Definitely not. By the way, check the reviews of this ad by the creative fraternity themselves – here’s one – the brand name is a passing mention if at all.
- Why are they promoting it?
- Awareness building? At 1.1 million views, it has probably achieved all the views it can get and they are not going to spend on airing this on TV . Is that enough?
- Consideration / preference for Fortune foods? Putting a brand banner at the fag end doesn’t help this cause.
- What’s the insight behind this ad?
- Is, ‘there’s something different about home cooked food’ a real insight? Is it leverage-able for Fortune foods? Both, definitely not.
Before I sign off, I can’t fathom how Adani Wilmar can spend a penny on making and airing this ad? (any sane guy wouldn’t have on this, in this form). And for these alone, I consider this ad campaign a scam, a highly visible scam.
The brand manager would have to think twice before making a 30 second ad, let alone a 4 minute 40 second one. Then there is the point of branding. A ‘lala‘ would have never agreed to wait till 4 minutes and 34 seconds to see his brand with a signoff line.
Go to the URL mentioned. It’s a grand, one page website (I don’t use facebook any more, so couldn’t login to check if at all there is something inside). The Twitter page was created to promote this video and the Facebook page points to a different URL. Too sloppy to be a campaign done on the insistence of a client.
