Recipe: Take a semi-successful ad. Let it go out of people's long term memory. Take a new product. Make a spoof ad for this product based on the ad that everybody has forgotten. Hope that people will make the connection. Serve with a smile. (after all, aren't the consumers keenly interested in the history of advertising?).
Why (and I am going to ask this only once) do we resort to such ads? Is it because Pepsi takes on Coke and Apple takes on Microsoft? With all due respect for the brand managers involved, the two products in question have precious little in common with these giants.
Wait! I do have a plausible explanation for this! The Hajmola Mint (mentioned as 'Spoofer' hereafter) ad was conceived way way back when the Chloremint (mentioned as 'Spoofee' hereafter) ad was running, and perhaps was intended for quite a different product competing with the Spoofee at the time. Senses prevailed and the script was shelved. Years passed. The agency took it out of the cold storage (many agencies have a large one) and presented it to the Spoofer client after the Spoofer client rejected all good ideas and chided the agency for its lack of mustaches and tea testing abilities.
"But the Spoofee is no longer running their ad", said the Spoofer client! The agency said "Much better! now the Spoofee won't take us to court for using the same Paanwalla!"
Anyways. Even if all this was true, the question remains (that I have already asked above). Therefore I have decided to fast for 3 days against this ad. (don't ask why 3 days again, dam phool).
Jai Anthony Simonds-Gooding, Jai Hind.
- Anna.
PS: Please find attached (reluctantly) herewith both Spoofer and Spoofee ads for your perusal.
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