Dive in with Limca

The new ad for the lemon drink from Coca-Cola is also based on interplay between a couple but in an unusual setting

The freshness drink from Coca-Cola has gone a step ahead and dived into water. The latest TV commercial for Limca, the drink for young adults, is based on interplay between a couple and how the drink refreshes their lives – physically and emotionally.

Ajay Gahlaut, group creative director and his team at Ogilvy, Delhi have been working on the brand for a while now. The last campaign (with actor Sushma Reddy) was released about a year ago and was a sure clutter breaker for the lime flavoured drink, which aimed to position itself as the refreshing drink for young working adults.

Six feet under

Limca intends to be appealing to the young adults and touts the aerated drink as a refresher of the highest degree, effective with even a sip.

The underwater ad opens on the shot of a young couple sitting in their house. The man is watching TV, while the woman is skimming through a magazine and is visibly upset that he is so engrossed in the TV. In the next scene, she takes a swig of Limca and soon, the huge room is seen filling up with water. The couple then try to get a hold of the bottle of Limca and engage in an underwater chase. The tension, almost visibly present between them earlier, dissipates and the ad ends on the shot of the bottle, with the tagline 'Doobo taazgi mein' (immerse in freshness).

The ad has been shot by Shashanka Chaturvedi (aka Bob) of Good Morning Films and the music has been re-worked by Dhruv and Ashu. This time, there is also a male voice to the song. The earlier song (boondein chura lo na) was sung by Cara Lisa Monteiro.

Water water everywhere

The film was shot over three days in a massive swimming pool in Bangkok. The house-like set was created within the swimming pool and the dry shots were taken first. Actors were chosen after an underwater screen test and during the shoot, divers with oxygen tool kits were present at all times. In the next two days, the underwater scenes were shot. Each scene was further broken into smaller scenes so that the right expressions could be captured. The actors performed a particular scene for about 10-12 seconds and then move towards the oxygen kits, before they were summoned for the next shot.

Some computer graphics have also been used. The post production house is VHQ.

The brand platform for Limca is that of water-like freshness, explains Gahlaut. Srinivas Murthy, director, marketing, Coca-Cola India explains that the target group for Limca are the young adults – those who work hard, are optimistic and have a strong drive in life. However, while working hard to achieve their goals, sometimes these adults miss out on the carefree freedom that they enjoyed in college life.

Limca is positioned as the escape from the daily humdrum of life. Murthy says that the strategy remains the same, but the route taken is to surprise the viewer. Thus, apart from physical freshness, there is also emotional freshness that has been played around with.

Limca will continue to stay within the space of young adults and their relationships.

Will it stay afloat?

afaqs! spoke to a few ad-film directors to get to know whether the underwater ad was good or a washout.

Naren Multani, head of the films division at McCann Erickson, thinks that the ad is bound to be compared to the earlier film. Multani isn't sure if he'd give the film a thumbs up in isolation, but it isn't as impressive as the first one. The earlier film was a moment of naughtiness between a glum couple returning from work. While both sip from their bottle of Limca, everything the girl touches turns to water. There is a water splashing game between the two before the ad ends with them walking barefooted, empty bottles in hand and simply happy.

Piyush Raghani of Film Farm doesn't mince his words. He says that the current ad has been badly done. "The underwater shots could have been done much better but these look fake," he says. The previous film has set a standard and Raghani says that it was a more natural film.

Multani isn't particularly glad about the tweak in the music track, either. "The earlier one has a better charm," he says.

The first film probably set the standards too high for the sequels to live up to.

Outdoor and Internet are also being used as part of this campaign.

The team from Ogilvy involved in the campaign comprises Vikash Chemjong and Basabjit Mazumdar, senior creative directors and Sarang Wahal and Atif Rahman from the servicing team.

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