Storyboard18 | Mast & Meh - This week’s round up of the best and boring ads

On Father’s Day, brands of all kinds will release tributes of all kinds. But this one keeps it real. Ninety-two percent of fathers regret not spending enough time with their children. The brand uses this number to tell the story of an ailing father and his son who is about to become a father. In his hospital bed the father shares with his son his deepest regret - not spending enough time with him. Then we see the father sending his son off to visit his newborn child in the same hospital. He sends him off with the advice to never miss a moment or milestone in his child’s life. As the son dutifully takes on the role of a doting and hands-on father, the ad film also highlights one important message: Parenting is not just a woman’s job.

MAST

Brand: Astral Pipes | Dadho Sutho

Agency: The Womb  

Lingua ad-franca 

Ranveer Singh has endorsed everything from chips to condoms. Now he’s promoting pipes. In Sindhi. In this spot, a very toned down Singh is being taken on a home tour by an over-the-top Sindhi gent who seems to have been inspired by the Palace of Versailles for home décor. And, may we add, self décor. But all that glitters is not gold. Cheap pipes instantly turn the home into a crumbling, leaky mess. At this point Singh steps in with a line about stinginess. Despite the use of a stereotype as a comical device, the use of Sindhi instead of Hindi makes us curious enough to give this one a Mast.

MEH

Brand: Britannia - Biscafe - Perfect Partner to Your Coffee

Agency: Lowe Lintas/Schbang Digital Solutions

Now you see him, now you don’t

Another spot with a celebrity brand endorser but this one only shows up in the last five seconds of the commercial. We’re not sure if they ran out of time or money, but this was a strange cup of tea to swallow. In the spot, we see a serpentine line of crackers go down like dominos around a home with a voiceover about the thin and melt-in-your-mouth crackers. It ends with the abrupt appearance of Karan Johar taking a bite out of a cracker. It’s unlikely a brand of that size didn’t have enough budget for a product launch ad. So, we can’t help but wonder about the reason behind this bland, blink-and-miss appearance by Johar of Koffee With Karan fame. But hey, they got a kute kitty that seemed to have more screen time. Still, the ad is not getting any coffee hampers from us.

MEH

Brand: Milton - #KuchNayaSochteHain

Agency: Ogilvy

Link: 

Not so hot 

The child test. Simple. Give a child anything and see if the thing makes it out in one piece. There’s so much Milton could have done to show off and play up the features of its tiffin boxes, which they have been making for 50 years. The power of exaggeration is an often used creative device, but Milton goes just quarter of the way in the ad. In the spot, we see a mother pack aloo matar and puri for her son in Milton’s Leaklock tiffin. First the boy hits the tiffin with a ball. The tiffin survives this brutal attack. She gives the box full of hot food to him and he tosses it in the air, dumps it in his bag and then bumps the bag into a chair. It drives home the point and is as satisfactory as warm-ish puris in the lunch box.

MAST

Brand: JioMart/ For Dad’s love that continues to stay

Keep it simple

A simple story of a daughter and her father with no major brand push. The daughter is seen using all the life lessons her father gave her even long after he’s gone. The brand wanted to push the message of ‘being there’ and they seem to have done that fairly welI. The spot is a good father’s day ad that is emotional without being too preachy,  pushy or forcefully nostalgic.

MEH

Brand: Mamaearth

Agency: Korra Worldwide

No offence, dear onion

Simply put, this new commercial starring Sara Ali Khan highlighting the benefits of onion in these products is boring. From what it looks like the script was intended to be funny with an actor sitting with tons of onion in front of him to find out remedies for hairfall but it fails on the wit front. The bland listing of the features and product benefits by Khan leaves this spot without shine. Even if the shampoo has ‘goodness’ this ad is no good. A strict Meh. (Nothing against onions.)