Savia Jane Pinto
Advertising

Tongues wag for Perfetti’s Center Fruit

In a new campaign for Center Fruit, O&M has explored the possibility of a human money dispenser

The fruit filled bubble gum that was launched last year rolled out its next television commercial early last month. Center Fruit, Perfetti’s fruit filled gum, sticks to its ‘Kaisi jeebh laplapayee’ strategy (how your tongue goes lapping). The execution though is very different.

Tongues wag for Perfetti’s Center Fruit
A visit to Raju Bank
Tongues wag for Perfetti’s Center Fruit
Selecting the withdrawal
amount in the 'ATM'
Tongues wag for Perfetti’s Center Fruit
Processing the notes
Tongues wag for Perfetti’s Center Fruit
The inspiration
Tongues wag for Perfetti’s Center Fruit
Center Fruit -- Kaise
Jeebh Laplapayee
The ad opens with a jeep travelling on a lonely forest road, and a South Indian music score in the background. The jeep stops at a rusty ATM centre called Raju Bank. A South Indian oldie is at the chair and the ‘bank’ is a dilapidated shack. A Chinese man steps out of the jeep and hands his credit card to the oldie. The oldie shakes his head and asks the Chinese man to put his credit card into a slot in the shanty and tells him to punch in the amount he needs. Once through the slot, the oldie takes the credit card and puts it in his pocket. Next, the oldie opens a window in the shanty and reveals a man with his hands bound behind his back and looking upwards. The Chinese man is wondering what’s going to happen next. The oldie lowers a lever and a bunch of notes rises up to the level of the bound man’s face. The minute the lever is lowered, the man goes ballistic and laps away like crazy. The man is a money dispenser of sorts! The Chinese man takes his cash and leaves. Cut to the lever behind the window. There is a Center Fruit hanging from the end of the lever. The oldie pulls the lever up again, and the bound man stops lapping. The ad ends with a VO that says, “Center Fruit. Kaisi jeebh laplapayee.”

The creative was created by Ogilvy and executed by Prasoon Pandey of Corcoise. When agencyfaqs! contacted Abhijit Avasthi, group creative director, O&M, he said, “There was no formal brief as such, but a discussion of sorts. We had tasted the product and quite liked the feel of it in the mouth. That’s the idea we wanted to convey to the consumer.” He explains that it was a conscious decision not to make the ad emphasise the fruitiness or bubble factor of the gum.

“The feel of the gum is such that you can play with it in your mouth,” says Avasthi. “We kept thinking of what else tongues play with, and we hit upon the idea of using the guy as an ATM.”

Sameer Suneja, marketing head, Perfetti, adds, “Though our primary target group is 4-14 year olds and the ad does not particularly cater to kids, kids do not need to be treated as naïve. They understand way better.” Post campaign, though the sales haven’t seen a rise, the reaction is positive, says Suneja.

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