Advertisements are made with an intention that they further the brand and be remembered by people for a long time. This happens for many ads, but for some it happens in a negative way.
Creativity goes to Hell and advertisers seem to be drunk while designing the ads. Laughing is the only thing you can do with such advertisements. We have seen many ads which were out of the way, but let us take a look at the top 5 Indian TV commercials that just didn’t make any sense!
[Note: Creativity is a very subjective matter, and if a particular ad does not make sense to me does not mean you will feel the same about it. If you think there are ads which are even worst than these, do make it a point to let us know in comments]
Contents
1. Thumbs UP Advertisements
“Dear Akshay,
Please don’t risk your life for a bottle of thumbs up. I will pay for it”, said a wallpaper that I saw on Facebook. I just could not resist laughing at this comment.
We have all seen Akshay Kumar doing insane stunts for a Thums up bottle. Really, what were you trying to convey Akshay? And after Akshay, it looks like the the legacy goes on with “Aaj kuch Toofani karte hai” Ads..
2. Colgate Toothpaste: Is toothpaste mein namak hai!!
Kya apke Toothpaste mein Namak Hai?
This ad really irritates me..over and over again in the commercial ad breaks.
The latest Colgate ad shows Sonakshi Sinha coming out of a movie screen to ask a viewer this same question. She suggests him Colgate Active Salt and then goes back into the screen to complete the scene. Seems creative? Naah, Rubbish!!
3. No Breaking news
Have you seen this ad? I am sure you have. The ad shows a reporter standing on the roof where water-proofing work is on saying, “No Breaking News”.
It is completely non understandable how this statement links to the product being advertised. After all, it is a water proofing cement, not a JCB machine that would break things!!
4. The fountain of chocolate
This list would have been in complete without the mention of this TV commercial. It shows fountains of chocolate flowing out of people’s head. I just shook my head when I first saw this add. What has happened to Indian advertisers?
Cadbury Éclairs is a popular candy across India, but you don’t expect it to burst people’s head, do you?
5. The Deodorant advertisements
In the last, I would not mention any single advertisement. This is a trend that is being followed in the advertisements of literally all deodorant brands. It’s a common theme; spray a lot of deodorant on your body and girls from all over the city would be chasing you. Now these ads are not suited to be watched before your family, especially in India.
Also, they just make you laugh for the in-practical theme of these ads. Obviously, everyone (maybe most) understand that girls are not going to chase you if you wear the deo in loads.. These Deodarant advertisements need to go beyond this “sex-appeal” theme.
These were five advertisements that we thought didn’t make any sense.
Any other commercial which don’t make sense to you?
Let us know it in the comments.
Someone should advertise this page for Umang Jatketia and Arun Prabhudesai. Their argument was legendary. Though Umang did have and edge over Arun! Well not as much as an edge but an entire plain.
Another super silly ad:
http://digestivepyrotechnics.blogspot.com/2014/12/alternate-ending-dove-body-wash-ad.html
Hi every one,i am an aspiring copy writer.i thought it is a better place to show my work.Kindly spend few minutes and give your feedback.
Smart phone “Technology is everyone’s right” :TVC 60
Open with middle Aged uncle stops his car at the signal.Then One bike stops right to the car.
Two young couple on the bike make some fun with each other
When the yellow light is on,Uncle notice that the boy on the bike resembles his son.
When he is about to call the person on bike,the signal goes green and the bike leaves from the scene.
He messages his son”whr r u?”
He gets the reply “college,atnding internals”
Now he opens gps application in his smart phone and search his son on the map.
The pointer shows that he is near to car and moving away from it very fast.
When the son is having his dinner father comes home .He scolds his son and complains to his wife about her son.
One day in the evening,wife calls to the same middle aged person by phone and ask him to take her For shopping.He replies “sorry,I am in meeting ,some other time”
Note:At this moment viewers don’t know weather he is lying are not.
During that conversation she finds some noise that usually comes at horse race.
She opens the gps in her smart phone and Tracks his husband.
The locator shows he is moving circularly in side the race course.
He finishes the race first and celebrating.At this moment his wife appears in front of him.
Now he stops dancing suddenly and feels guilty.now the camera slowly moves away to capture the message that is written on a moving advertising Van.
The message will be like “it is every one’s right to use technology”
Now the logo of smart phone appears.
I agree some of these ads are absolutely ridiculous. I never have understood the chocolate axe one you mentioned. However, aren’t these ads achieving exactly what they wanted? They’re are getting talked about and noticed, hence generating word of mouth marketing, even if it about their crazy commercial their product name and brand is still getting out there. Just saying…
I was very sure about ‘fountain of chocolate’ in the list, and you rightly picked, That ad is so irritating.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCr8GcgRVQs can there be anything more ludicrous than this?
I don't understand if you are an over enthusiastic teenage student, or an over zealous old (typically south indian) man. Have you ever studied advertising? Making commercials is not just film-making, where you chose xyz artist to come on screen, mouth a few dialouges and end with the tag line. There is a lot of thought that goes into making these ads. There are so many layers to the commercials ranging from sociological to psychological. Have you ever heard jungian archetypes? Or Top of the mind awareness? Or bandwagon effect? Advertisements form part of popular culture. They are not viewed with cola bottles and popcorn buckets. They are viewed in your daily lives, when people are stressed/angry/frustrated/elated/relaxed/happy/dying/learning… Advertisements are part of your culture. They are conversation starters for many and deal breakers for some. People fight and argue over their point of views. They vouch for certain products after its starts getting endorsed by a personality.
Don't type a blog just because you think you can write and appear as if you have informed opinion. You are insulting an entire fraternity, whose hard work reflects the soci-psycho structure of the entire nation.
Please calm down :). I don't like any of those commercials either, other than the Cadbury's one
Quoting Joker, "Its not about money… Its about sending a message…" :P
wtf hpnd to u? :P
I think its some sort of allergy to bullshit. :P
Umang – Absolutely agreed with your point of view. First off, we are not trying to dis-respect your fraternity (I guess you are an advertising professional)… I am sure there are excellent minds behind making these ads… Also, if a particular ad is "does not make sense" ad does not mean that it is not a successful ad.
However, with all due respect, please take these comments are a sort of feedback… that vaginal tightening cream ad for example is a super hit with social Media or these Deo ads have large amount of men drooling and buying the Deo's for Axe effect on girls…So it may not make sense to us, but it achieves the goal what it is supposed to…
But there are section of viewers who are not fools and this post probably is for them. Take it in the right spirit…
You are putting yourself down by blasting your mind off here…Thand rakho and enjoy the videos…is all I can say…
brace yourselves… condescending comment is coming… oh wait! its already here.
This comment is from one of our readers – Altaf Rahman, He could not post it so he mailed me and asked me to reply to @umang jaketia …here is his comment
Dear Umang,
Its nice to know what goes into making an ad unlike just film making. I believe that what ever you wrote must be true.
Ultimately the purpose of an ad is to push a certain point to audiance and convince them to buy a certain product.
If you see the comments below coming from people across various strata, you will agree that in making "some" ads, the inputs you mentioned may not have gone into ad making. They did not appeal to certain people.
What I want to say is the article did not insult an entire fraternity. It points out only a few ads that did not connect with people.
In my case, I can name a few.
For one, Salman Khan ad for chaddi banyan. He is insulting a culture which is thousands of years old. He beats the monks black and blue and makes every one in Shaolin to wear his brand of chaddi banyan.
In fact I can tell you that I refused to buy his brand chaddi banyan and told the salesperson just coz of the ad I am not buying it. I told him to give feedback to whoever he want. I am not saying I make any difference. But is it not the purpose of the ad to reach out to people, including me? What happened to all the inputs which you mentioned in making of this ad?
Another one is Anupam Kher telling people on TV that drinking certain brand tea is equivalent to excersizing. Is it not insulting hardwork? What happened to all the inputs you mentioned in making rhis ad?
Also it is interesting how you made a profile of the author (teen age student, old man, south indian) etc based on an article :)
Just my two paisa.
I am sorry, I lost you after you said he could not post the comment himself. Your site ihas open graph integration. My comment is coming through my Facebook Profile. Is this friend not on Facebook, or is he Tyler Durden?
Anyways, you can argue as much as you can? Thats beside the point. If you, the article, or your friend had showed one shred of empirical evidence, or logical rationalization for an ad being bad, or not appealing, none of this discussion would have happened. My problem is the layman attitude. Criticism is not a right. Its a privilege. Harboring opinions is not a license to spout thoughts.
Man, you are too full of yourself…instead of replying..you are trying to create a storm here… There are always 1 in 10 who are like you…guess it is better to ignore you…
Wish you would have done that yesterday… The irony literally is hurting my head.
Umang,
I respect your concern for the advertisers fraternity and believe that some of them actually do brilliant jobs at putting the message across the table.
But, truly none of the ads except axe to an extent, make sense. top of the mind awareness actually works when you have a high made some clutter breaking ads like flipkart's kids ads or zoozoos. Its because those ads actually make sense but are put across in very innovative ways. That kind of sticks with people. The cadbury ad just doesnt makes sense at all.
Id still want to see axe out of this list because they have worked on that campaign…from one girl around the corner to thousands of girls across the city…they have just built on the same (although seemingly stupid) message that "spray axe, girls run after you". This might seem ridiculous in the beginning to the audience but the inner conscious of each and every male craves for the same effect. Girls running after them. So their pre purchase behavior might be slightly affected because of brand recall. Because of this ad.
Hi Lokesh…Thanks for adding some intelligence in the conversation!
I am not defending these ads either. Quite frankly, the overall standard of work is quite crappy.
But if the average itself is low, what can you say of all those who live below it?
Once again, all my issues were with self-presumptuous chatterboxes going gaga about what they think is right and wrong. It is these very fellows who are bringing the average down next to zero. Other than that, these ads do suck.
We all suck. And people can only talk about sucking.
Some do it with their brains, which is still productive. Others are just showing off, which is just molasses of their vanity.
Arun .. I started reading and boarded your train (ignore one), after the first sentence. Leave aside the fullness, a big section of India (Teens and South Indians) are thrown under the bus
I think with so many comments and suggestions coming in… I plan on doing another post "Top Readers' contributed make-no-sense videos"…Quite frankly we already have close to 10 suggestions… Yes, and we will contribute to each of you on it…so incase, you have more suggestions let them come in…
Bikini clad girl comes out from the sea……buy our cement.
And all those gutkha and pan masala ads…
McDonanlds ka McEgg burger ads (the complete ad) – in which they show that those who eat these egg burgers start clucking like hen.
My only reaction to this piece:
*facepalm*
A very nice read. And I’ll suggest adding the ‘fairness treatment’ gig to this list. Seriously, I had to reduce the brightness setting on my TV every time the ad is aired, jut to see the lady’s face.
Two more things-
1. It is the chocolate fountain ‘ad’, not ‘add’ and
2. I think cadbury eclairs falls more under the ‘toffee’ category than the ‘candy’ category
Fairness creams for women and Deodorants for men- Anything is possible…keep aside your thoughts and just ignore them…Change the channel saar.
Unlike cheap ads like women runnin bhind men fr his body spray, showing disgusting toilet wit a popural actor (ou of market actor) , These three ads are awesomatically creative 1. Phool jaise idly-havels Idli 2. Surf excel cricket dhaang achhe hein and 3. Dairymilk shubh arambh.
want to see the worst possible ad made in India?
here is the link.
its an ad for vagina rejuvenation cream, and this product has an ad that features one family.
the harpic ad that airs specifically when you are eating, you thought that was bad have look.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPayFrCOiZM
and well did you forget the BINGO ads.
Yes…it has been a hot topic on social media for past couple of weeks.. but see in this case the product seems to be senseless… but ad is ok…
can't speak for the product.. because its already a hit in major countries and has been accepted widely. Online promotion of the product has lead to almost 72% jump in sales.
wait i forgot one
Kalyan Jewellers .. none of their ads make sense. none whatsoever
Ads which graze the line always get eye brows and get people talking, and that in itself contributes to brand building.. if the current ad does not work, at least you are building brand equity for your company… I have no problems with these ads, they are doing their work… The ads I have a problem with are those which have the potential to make people do crazy stuff in a way that it hurts others … This at least is "You are responsible for your results"
there r so many ads that can be added to the list….
Fair & Lovely Menz Activ… as if men were not fair before this cream has arrived.
Fair & Lovely Fairness Cream… fairness is the only thing… no intelligence required…why don't they get real!
Amitabh…driving his Force to take over the bully.
Tata Namak… kab se kha rahein hain…lekin desh ki imanndari ka level toh girte jaa raha hai!
Sonakshi ji ko Janta batay ki chai pina sehat ke liye achha hota hai…kya re Akshay!
hahahaha… I should have included the Tata Namak ad for sure….ridiculous… you have mentioned some good ads there..
How can you forget abt that cement company ad and model with bikini in that?
You are talking about that stilll Ad…or there is a TV commercial also on that?
Talking abt this ad. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2cqlw3pwFw
Oh yeah…this one is absolutely senseless….
I think its unfair to include #3 here. Waterproofing usually involves breaking the layer of cement on your roof before treating it with chemicals. This product aims to do away with that.
Hmm… I may agree with you…but like I said…coming to a top 5 list like this…is very subjective…
what abt ads of 7up and mountain dew.
The Bournvita ad where the lady keeps asking "calcium ke liye kya deti ho?" and the other lady keeps saying "doodj deti hoon". We do get the point when she asks once.
another one is the advertisement of Mahindra XUV500- Ceetah inspired is also falls in this category.
Agreed, these are up there when it comes to senselessness but may be the next piece in this installment should be 5 Ads which are irresponsible and have the potential the influence some demographic to do stupid things. I would put the Aircel AD where the tag line is "Upload anything India". I am assuming Aircel in its wisdom is thinking that people are capturing moments of fun and frolic, but we have seen enough MMS and Video Bloopers to expect people to make the right decisions on these kinda things.
I can take senselessness as I don't expect anyone to jump off the cliff for a Thumbs up, or expect ladies to fall over me when I walk into the next place I go because of the deo I have used, but there are advertisements which cross that fine line of what's actually possible, and end up showing examples which not everyone would not be able to make sense of.
Aircel could have shown examples of people uploading some stuff which shows doing the right thing, rather than making a mock of some one where his chedi's (Shorts) and hanging on a string..
What do u guys think?
@Srinivas Vemula I agree with you… I think we will also do a feature of top 5 ads which are irresponsible… Would you be interested in doing a guest post on it ? :)
Thanks Arun. Unfortunately (Really!) I dont live in India and my TV window is pretty limited, but I will keep taps and let u know when I have a Top 5
@srinivas vemula In the years that I lived in US, Indian TV commercials were the ones I missed the most…US commercials are drab and boring
I cannot agree with you more… I think dumm ads work here, may be it is a reflection of what appeals to the average TV watching american viewer :-) .. I am sure the marketing folks would have personified their target audience and decided .. You know what "this is way too intelligent to get our products to sell" ..
what about amul macho?