Mithun Da shakes a leg in new GoDaddy commercial

Internet domain registrar and web-hosting company GoDaddy has unveiled a new campaign in India, starring Mithun Chakraborty (fondly known as Mithun Da). Conceptualised by Bangalore-based Happy Creative Services, the campaign aims to communicate the importance of a website to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Through the two commercials, GoDaddy has brought back Mithun Da’s quirky dance moves of yesteryears in all their glory.

The first TVC opens with two owners of a bakery sitting idle at the counter. The boy is taking selfies to pass the time while the girl is idly flipping through a receipt book, bored. Cut to Mithun Da suddenly appearing in the shop with showgirls. He asks them if they want more customers. They eagerly reply in the positive. He then asks them to visit GoDaddy.com, make a website and dance! He then proceeds to break into a signature Mithun da dance routine with the showgirls.

The second film focuses on a leather store owner who ideally wants to keep his store open 24x7.
Watch both the TVCs here.

GoDaddy - Bakery

GoDaddy - Leather Store

Firstbiz.com spoke to Kartik Iyer (pictured below, second from left), CEO, Happy about the insight that the campaign stemmed from and why GoDaddy particularly chose to focus on the SME owner.

“We realised that although the internet has been around for so long, no one has really taken the effort to communicate to the small business owner what its actual benefits are. Big players have done so at the CTO level. So we knew we were talking to people who didn’t exactly realise why they should get a domain and a website for themselves.”

So how did this insight translate into a quirky commercial starring Mithun Da?

Said Iyer, “He was more of an idea than a choice of brand ambassador. We had him in mind at the pitch stage itself. Going by the brand’s quirky choice of endorsers internationally, Mithun was just a natural choice. Also, we wanted someone with mass appeal for the TG, not to mention someone who was fresh in advertising. Just seeing the man in an ad doing his moves after so many years has a unique, undeniable charm. The client bought into Mithun Da from day 1!”

Iyer says that Happy had to get across two vital things to the TG - the reach that a website brings and the fact that it keeps a business running round the clock.

“The set up was pretty straight-forward; we showcased two kinds of businesses - a new age cupcake kind of bakery and one family-business type leather shop. The creative route was pretty much set up then on; introduce brand as solution and dance!” says Iyer.

Speaking of dancing, Iyer says that he was amazed with how Mithun got his dance moves right in just one attempt.

“He was an absolute pleasure to work with. His aura is so friendly and welcoming. It’s an absolute transformation, however, when he gets into costume and on the set,” says Iyer about Happy’s experience of working with the star. He also mentioned that Mithun Da has a funny bone to him. “Every once in a while he’d get a short and say ‘pack up’ in the middle of the shoot. There were a lot of fun moments on the set.”

Credits:

Campaign Name - It’s Go Time

Chief Executive Officer: Kartik Iyer

Chief Creative Officer: Praveen Das

Chief Operating Officer: Siddhartha Roy

Copywriter: Vijay Joy

Art Director: Himesh C.H.

Account Planning: Ravi Bhat

Group Account Manager: Ajay Kumar

Production House: Apostrophe films

Director: Koushik Sarkar

Producer: Hamesh / Divyesh Sata