Sign up for afaqs! Newsletters
Makemytrip.com has launched a viral ad that spoofs the movie, Ghajini, to promote its travel community site OkTataByeBye.com
Bollywood, especially the film, Sholay remains a constant inspiration for viral ad filmmakers in India. But this time, Aamir Khan and his latest movie, Ghajini have become their targets.
A viral ad called “Gajodhar – The wait is over”, which spoofs Ghajini, is out in the Internet space. The film has been released by Makemytrip.com, an online travel agency (OTA), to promote its online travel community site, OkTataByeBye.com. The film has been developed by Delhi-based interactive agency, Webchutney.
Gajodhar, the film’s protagonist, is a passionate traveler. His appearance has been modeled closely on Aamir Khan’s in Ghajini. The film starts at a point when Gajodhar reaches a hotel and decides to stay there for a few days. On arrival, the hotel offers him lemon juice as a welcome drink. Later, he checks into the allotted room and has dinner in the hotel, which he doesn’t enjoy.
Speaking to afaqs!, Prabhat Bhatnagar, creative director, Webchutney says, “Gajodhar is actually depicted as a genuine traveler, who notices small things that happen during his stay in a hotel and wants to talk about the same.”
On the use of tattoo art, Bhatnagar says, “We have exaggerated the idea that Gajodhar is passionate to talk about his experiences. He works hard to note them down and get them written over his body as tattoos, so that he will not lose the correct information related to his experiences with the hotel. The exaggeration is done to convey that genuine travelers write hotel reviews on OkTataByeBye.com.”
He adds, “Since we do not have the advertising budget allocated for OkTataByeBye.com, we thought a viral advertising campaign would be a good and cheaper option to reach out and inform consumers about the site and expand its user base as well. We have started spreading the viral ad among Makemytrip.com and OkTataByeBye.com members by sending them e-mailers and providing them the URL of the viral ad to view it. The idea is to spread the viral ad through our own members.”
Makemytrip.com has more than a million users while OkTataByeBye.com has 30,000 subscribers.
Bhatia says, “Many travel community sites exists in the market and we briefed Webchutney to create a viral ad on something which is topical and will help us cut the clutter, make people curious about the site and let them know that the site stands for hotel reviews.”
The company has intentionally released the viral ad at a time when the travel season is picking up among travelers in India. Later, the viral ad will be uploaded on YouTube and Facebook as well.
Bhatia indicated that the company may carry out more promotional activities for OkTataByeBye.com in the social media space.