 "Stains are good if they bring governance, says Surf Excel")
There are many brands that have jumped on to the election bandwagon, cashing in on the unprecedented popularity and attention surrounding the elections.
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The ‘stain’ on your finger after voting is good, says Surf Excel[/caption]
Some brands have done connected their brands to the elections well, some have done it badly.
Amongst the great connects is what Ogilvy did for Fevicol. Fevicol launched its tongue-in-cheek commercial, Crazy Chairs, for the election season. The ad, unlike most other election campaigns by brands, was simply asking for a stable government this election irrespective of who comes to power. You can read more about the campaign here .
Today, we see another campaign which does a good job in making a credible and entertaining connect - for Surf Excel.
Surf Excel, which has built the tagline ‘Daag Achhe Hain’ in the conviction that dirt (literally, daag is stain) is good, when it is a result of children doing the things that children should be doing, such as playing, goes a bit more literal this time. Now, ‘daag’ is not ‘dirt’, but stain, implies Lowe, the creative agency on the account.
Not any stain, though - the stain on your finger to prove that you have voted.
Why is this stain good?
‘Agar ungli pe daag lagne se achhi sarkar banti hai, to daag achhe hain’, Surf Excel says.
Translated, this says, “if the staining of a finger results in the formation of a good government, then the stain is good.”
We have no idea if we get, as Fevicol wanted, a stable government, or as Surf Excel wants, a good government. What we do have, though, is good advertising from these brands.
Anant Rangaswami was, until recently, the editor of Campaign India magazine, of which Anant was also the founding editor. Campaign India is now arguably India's most respected publication in the advertising and media space. Anant has over 20 years experience in media and advertising. He began in Madras, for STAR TV, moving on as Regional Manager, South for Sony’s SET and finally as Chief Manager at BCCL’s Times Television and Times FM. He then moved to advertising, rising to the post of Associate Vice President at TBWA India. Anant then made the leap into journalism, taking over as editor of what is now Campaign India's competitive publication, Impact. Anant teaches regularly and is a prolific blogger and author of Watching from the sidelines.