Mast & Meh: Cadbury’s lost connection; Thumbs up for WhatsApp, Dezerv & Thums Up

MAST Tata Steel - Raahi Agency: Wunderman Thompson

Mast & Meh logoThemes of diversity and inclusion are always welcome in advertising campaigns when it’s purposeful and not just tokenism. This film shows the story of a transgender woman and her success in corporate life. Simple and realistic storytelling is the essence of this new campaign and sits very well with the overall agenda of ‘#KholoMannKeDwaar. This is one of the many initiatives taken up by the brand to meet its target of creating a 25 percent diverse workforce by 2025.

MAST Mankind - #SearchNahiResearchKiSuno with AcneStar Agency: SG Dream Media Ventures

It’s a relief to see that a pimple is not the cause of a woman losing a job, a man and her self-confidence, and a face wash is not the reason she gets it all back. This brand takes a step in the right direction with the spotlight put on the product when it says trust research, not search. We liked the realistic portrayal of the quest to nuke pimples - from drinking bitter, green smoothies to putting the “entire fruit chart on your face”. And the pimple does not stop the young woman from going about her everyday business like taking public transport or working without covering her face in embarrassment.

MAST Dezerv - ‘youdezervbetter’ Agency: Dezerv and Light@27

In this spot we see a news anchor named Shireen Sharma interviewing an influencer whose financial tips resulted in "an entire generation losing its life savings". With the rise of ‘finfluencers’ in the BFSI category, it was only a matter of time before the bubble burst. Recently, the indiscriminate promotion of crypto products and services by influencers has revealed the dangers of influencer marketing and its impact on consumers. Dezerv, however, takes an exaggerated and humorous approach to fire a serious shot at this cult of influencers while pitching itself as a superior and trustworthy wealth management brand.

MEH Nivea - #BindaasTryKar Agency: Publicis One Touch

The film features Nivea’s brand ambassador, actor Taapsee Pannu, who is seen painting a wall. As her friend hesitates to paint freely due to her rough and patchy underarms, Pannu advises her to ‘bindaas’ roll. We’ll skip the problem of the double entendre in that line and go straight to the real issue. When will we go past the narrative of patchy underarms, pimply skin, skin color, pores, body hair, etc, being the sole reason for a woman’s inability to do things like painting a wall or landing a job. Sure, many women would prefer smooth underarms, but rough ones aren’t stopping her from painting the town red.

MAST Thums Up - #HarHaathToofan Agency: Ogilvy India

Thums Up's new campaign commemorating 75 years of India’s independence presents an ode to inspirational people who’ve helped build India. The spot features inspirational stories of athletes like Sourav Ganguly, Avani Lekhara, first Indian woman to win a gold medal at the Paralympics, and Nikhat Zareen, Indian Boxer and IBA Women’s World Boxing 2022 gold medalist. What stands out, though, is the captivating animation and creative visualization complimented with a compelling background score and poetry that evokes deep patriotism.

MEH Cadbury Dairy Milk - #ConnectedRakhi Agency: Ogilvy India

We always appreciate when creativity marries tech to create something truly breakthrough in advertising. We’ve seen Indian agencies set new benchmarks by deploying technology creatively in the work. And Cadbury has been leading that charge along with a few other brands. But its new initiative falters. The brand has its heart in the right place when it comes to the insight of helping brothers spend more quality time with sisters this Rakhi. However, leveraging bluetooth enabled #ConnectedRakhi which needs to be connected with an app with a sign-up for it to work seems tedious. Cadbury says that sisters can upload a voice clip of their brother's promise on the app. The sister ties the connected rakhi on the brother’s arm, while it is paired with her phone. If the brother moves away from her or tries to leave, her phone plays the brother’s audio recording where he promised to spend the day with her. Too complex for its own good. This isn't a case of creativity marrying tech, it’s a case of technology demolishing creativity.

MAST WhatsApp - Scam Se Bacho Agency: BBDO India

WhatsApp in its biggest market is pinging in lyrical advertising messages. In a music video, the instant messaging app, narrates real-life situations in which we see how individuals are prone to scams. The film further highlights the message of staying safe and exercising caution while making digital payments. The brand’s take on the classic Hindi song ‘Aye Bhai, Zara Dekh Ke Chalo’ from Mera Naam Joker adds the right mix of nostalgia and relatability that cuts across generations. This spot is worthy of a WhatsApp forward at the very least.