Sylvester daCunha, the man behind the iconic Amul Girl passes away

Sylvester daCunha

Sylvester daCunha, the creator of the iconic Amul girl mascot is no more.

1966 marked the year when a mascot with big eyes donning a frock with red polka dots paired with matching ribbons and red shoes came to life. As per the book, Amul’s INDIA 3.0, daCunha, who was then the manager at Advertising and Sales Promotion Company, wanted to create a mascot where the brief was to position it among the mothers and children.

Previously, the tagline of Amul butter was ‘Purely the Best’. daCunha felt the necessity to replace the tagline with one that was catchy. Hence, daCunha’s wife Nisha stepped in with ‘Utterly Amul’ and the former added the word ‘Butterly’ to coin it as ‘Utterly Butterly Amul’.

It was decided that a child would be the face of the brand and daCunha explained his visualisation to late art director, visualiser and cartoonist Eustace Fernandes who brought the Amul girl to life.

The mascot first debuted on a few lamp-post boards in Mumbai where her line was, “Give us this day our daily bread: with Amul butter.”
Today, the Amul girl stands as a symbol of memorability and nostalgia in the arena of Indian advertising and daCunha’s contribution in this stands paramount.

In 1969, daCunha Communications was cemented by daCunha which continues to keep the legacy of daCunha and the mascot alive. Some of their memorable campaigns are ‘Party, Patni or Woh?’, ‘British Errways’, ‘Bom Bye’ etc.