Amul will now 'linger' on Satyam fiasco

The country's bestselling table-butter brand, Amul, is well known for its topical, spoof-based outdoor ad campaigns. Be it politics, sports, movies, lifestyle or current affairs, Amul has covered them all in its campaigns. Viewers and passers by keep a keen eye on the campaigns, which change three to six times every month, depending on recent happenings.

Continuing with tradition, Amul has now spoofed the Satyam fiasco, not sparing the chief executive officer, Ramalinga Raju and his alleged fraud of Rs 7,136 crore.

The campaign creative depicts a caricature of Raju in the “eye-wiping” pose that was splashed across newspapers and magazines soon after the news broke. The copy reads, ‘Satyam, Sharam, Scandalam’, a play on the devotional ‘Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram’, which means ‘Truth is God and God is Beautiful’.

He shares that this campaign has received an amazing response because everyone felt a part of it. "Usually, our Amul campaigns get a quick response and it did this time, too," he says.

Amul recently spoofed the much talked about movie, Ghajini, displaying a caricature of actor Aamir Khan, complete with body tattoos that said, ‘Get Amul’, ‘I Slice Bread’ and ‘I Make Sandwich’.

When Omar Abdullah was recently elected chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, the campaign read, ‘Omar, Amul la!’, along with a caricature of Abdullah in a ‘shikara’ (a Kashmiri boat).

RS Sodhi, chief general manager, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), says, "The Amul Topical Campaign on billboards has been the longest continuous running campaign on hoardings. It was started almost four decades ago. The topical campaign gets displayed in all the major cities of India, covering almost all the territories of the country."

Sodhi adds that every topical ad owes its genesis to an event or incident in the country or abroad. Since the frequency depends on the topicality of the issue, the topic may get changed after even just a day if a recent development warrants it.

On an average, around 55-60 topical ads are displayed in a year on hoardings across India.

"The topicals are on local, regional, national or international issues. That’s why some topicals are displayed in select markets and not on a national basis," says Sodhi.

Whether these creatives are changed weekly or fortnightly, whether they are based on national or international issues, the fact is that they are enjoyed by everyone who lays eyes on them. But for Amul and daCunha Associates, it is work as usual. After all, it is their 'bread and butter'.