Cadbury: Putting chocolate crave before cricket craze

Cadbury now has a different philosophy. It says you to celebrate even if there isn’t reason enough for it.

The lastest TVC from Cadbury opens at a railway station, where a bunch of people including merchants, the TTE, passengers and kids are watching a cricket match. Since India needs only one run to win, all present are sure of India’s victory and are already in celebration mode. A vendor who has brought goods, including boxes of Cadbury Dairy Milk (CDM) chocolates, to sell to the shop at the railway station, is one among the excited viewers. He hands a box to the motley crowd to celebrate India’s ‘certain’ victory. A young boy is about to pick a bar, when the final ball is bowled and the batsman is out. India loses the match.

Disappointed, the crowd is still in a daze and the vendor quietly begins to withdraw the box of chocolates. Just then, the young boy says, “Arrey Uncle, koi toh jeet gaya na. Muh toh meetha karao. Kenya jeet gaya.” Everyone agrees with the kid and digs in to take his/her share of CDM. The chorus in the background goes, “Kenya jeet gaya! Kenya jeet gaya!”

However, this wasn't the idea that Cadbury wanted to convey when it briefed its agency, O&M. The brief was to continue on the thought of kuch meetha ho jaye and take the brand forward. “It was while going through some scripts O&M had presented that this one thoroughly conveyed the thought of celebration in a different way,” shares Purohit.

The thought is that you'd make up any reason to have a Cadbury Dairy Milk. “Even if it’s a crazy reason,” says Abhijit Avasthi, executive creative director – South Asia, O&M. The earlier campaigns of Cadbury (Pappu pass ho gaya and Miss Palampur), it would be remembered, gave good reasons to celebrate and to have a CDM.

afaqs! spoke to a few bigwigs in the industry to find out what they thought of this commercial.

R Balakrishnan, chairman and national creative director, Lowe India has very little to say. “It's a nice and enjoyable ad. That's about all I can say.” He adds that he appreciates the TVC’s take on celebration.

Prathap Suthan, NCD, Cheil Communications, feels strongly about the ad. “I hate it.” According to him, joy and victory are sweet only when it’s an Indian win. “You could have a chocolate on any other occasion, but not at India losing a cricket match,” he says.

To which Purohit says, “The audience is mature enough to understand that the ad is about celebration and not cricket. Cricket is just a background that has been used.”

Josy Paul, chairman and chief creative officer, BBDO India has a different opinion. “Firstly, the ad is on an interesting subject; and second, it’s memorable,” he says. But he isn't sure whether he likes the ad. Paul thinks that the light-hearted idea in the ad is a clever way of being noticed in a low-involvement category like chocolate. Though the ad celebrates in spite of India losing the match, Paul says, “It is a nice thought and the client and the agency are brave to have gone ahead and executed it.”

Avasthi adds that the commercial is also a message to the overzealous Indian cricket fan to avoid making violent protests outside his cricket hero's house when the team isn't doing as well. “Winning and losing are part of all games and it needs to be taken well,” he says.

Apart from the 45-second TVC that has been running on television, a 60-second TVC will be played in cinemas across India. Print and radio too are part of the media mix. Outdoor will be carried out only in Mumbai and Delhi.