Did you spot the trendy dada-dadi?

Remember the fit and strong Dadaji (paternal grandfather) who maintained his ‘tandurusti’ with his daily intake of Chyawanprash? Or the one who looked after his strong teeth with his ‘dantmanjan’?

But along with time, the Dadaji of Indian advertising has changed. Today, he’s much younger and, dare we say it, trendier. He goes to a fast food joint and buys diamond rings for his wife and even tries to download his favourite oldies through his mobile phone.

From a fast food joint to an insurance company to a mobile service provider or even a mint, brand owners in every segment are betting on the old man and his female counterpart to sell their idea.

There are certain categories where one can expect the old man, but a non-conventional one like a fast food joint (McDonald’s), where he says, ‘I’m loving it!’? Seems bizarre.

Rameet Arora, brand partner, Leo Burnett, clarifies, “The idea behind using an elderly couple was to implement a universal communication. Above all, Mc Donald’s caters to the entire family and not just kids.”

Then how would you explain the recent commercial for Polo (the mint with a hole)? It shows an old lady blowing a kiss to a young bartender who is, apparently, watching the old woman (and her husband) through the hole in the mint. “‘Get the unexpected’ was the idea essentially. Casting an old couple in that commercial was intrinsic to the idea. Like the guy getting a kiss from the old lady, unexpectedly!” explains Preeti Nair, executive creative director, Lowe, the agency behind the advertisement.

The Reliance R World ad, created by Cartwheel Creatives, shows a grandfather missing the music of his days. His granddaughter provides a solution in the form of Reliance’s R World. That’s how you fit an old man into an ad for a mobile phone which is supposed to be a young one’s forte.

D Ramakrishna, executive director, Cartwheel, says, “It breaks the clutter. Cell phones or gadgets are usually associated with youngsters. This ad creates an emotional appeal as well. So apart from reaching our target (young people), we reach those who may not really be the target (very old people).”

“This particular ad couldn’t have worked without the old man’s character because it has a lot to do with nostalgia. We wanted to show that technology can be accessed by people of all age groups,” he adds.

A classic way of using a celebrity older person such as Zohra Sehgal is the latest Titan ad, where Sehgal plays Aamir Khan’s grandmother. The idea was to try out something unusual. Rajiv Rao, group creative director, O&M, says, “We had explored the husband-wife relationship for quite a while and it was becoming clichéd. Our concept – you don’t need to have an occasion to gift a Titan – came out perfectly through this ad via a distinct communication.”

© 2006 agencyfaqs!