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Tehelka’s crows all set to descend on the hypocrites of Indian society
In an ad for ‘Tehelka’, McCann-Erickson has made interesting use of crows to bring out its movement against dishonesty and fraudulent people
Seven years and several controversies later, news brand Tehelka has finally launched its first ad campaign. Tehelka, which started off as a dotcom in 2000, later branched into a weekly tabloid aimed at exposing the ghastly acts of influential politicians, celebrities, criminals and common people that are often swept under the carpet.
Tehelka, known for its exposés on the Jessica Lal case, Zaheera Sheikh, paedophilia in Goa and, more recently, the Nithari killings, has undergone a series of ups and downs over the last few years. In fact, at one point, the weekly was struggling to survive. Says Tarun Tejpal, editor-in-chief and publisher, ‘Tehelka’, “Resources have been a huge problem for us, but somehow we pulled through. Now, we’re adding around 200 new readers every day.”
A politician making a speech in a village about his opposition’s incompetence. |
Crows surround the area. |
Crows soon disrupt the politician’s speech. |
The politician and his men try to ward off the crows. |
Speech is impossible, as the crow perches atop the politician’s microphone. |
After the voiceover concludes, ‘Jhoot Bole Kauwa Kaate’ a super appears: ‘Tehelka. Subscribe to the truth’. |
In a chance meeting a few months ago with Prasoon Joshi, executive chairman, McCann-Erickson India, Tejpal was sold on the idea of advertising Tehelka for the first time. Then emerged the ‘Jhooth bole kauwa kaate’ script.
The ad, currently running in cinemas and all set to break on television, opens on the shot of a politician making a speech before a bunch of villagers. While he drones on and on about the inadequacies of the opposition party, he spots a few crows flying into the area. Undeterred, he continues with his false promises. To his horror, the few crows become several crows till the entire area is swarming with crows.
The security officers look skyward and try to beat the crows off with their ‘lathis’, but to no avail. As the crows’ caws reach an alarming high, a crow perches atop the politician’s microphone, making it impossible for him to continue with his speech. A voiceover concludes, ‘Jhooth bole kauwa kaate (Tell a lie, and the crow will get you)’. A super then appears on the screen, which reads, ‘Tehelka, India’s fastest growing weekly. The truth about Jessica Lal, Zaheera Sheikh, Paedophilia in Goa, Match Fixing in Cricket, Corruption in Arms Deals. Subscribe to the truth. SMS Tehelka to 3636’.
“We all know the popular Hindi adage, ‘Jhooth bole kauwa kaate’,” says Joshi. “However, we wanted to experiment with the statement quite literally.” His mantra? The ‘literal’ often leads to ‘lateral’ thinking. Further, the crows represent ‘Tehelka’ as a brand, and, for the audience, it is almost a moment of relief when the crows come to the rescue of the public.
The film has been shot by Blackmagic Films. Some of the crows have been created using special computerised effects. Interestingly, the politician’s audio track has been reversed so that it sounds like he is talking gibberish. According to Joshi, this was done purposely to disrespect politicians who talk rubbish, promising the world to people and then backtracking on the promises.
In fact, this ironic ‘jhooth…’ angle applies not only to corrupt politicians, but also to people from any other walk of life, who don’t deliver on their promises.
The press and outdoor ads show a crow perched atop places such as a police jeep or a Dalal Street signboard, with the tagline to do the job. The advertising will focus specially on Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. At present, ‘Tehelka’ has a circulation of 80,000 copies a week; the aim is to take this figure to 1,50,000 by the end of 2007.
© 2007 agencyfaqs!