Amul Macho: to(y)ing with clichés

Shot in a Bollywood movie style, the latest TVC from the innerwear brand has a man as its main protagonist and the one at the receiving end

The last time we heard from the brand, human fantasies had been taken up by animals, with male orangutans wearing Amul Macho innerwear seen swinging from branch to branch, much to the delight of the ornament laden females of the species. Sexuality still is the tone, though this time, its metrosexuality.

The brand that was earlier handled by agencies such as Leo Burnett and Bates141 moved its creative duties to the three year old Saints & Warriors in 2007. Saints & Warriors is the creative hotshop started by Pushpinder Singh, known as Pushpi in the ad fraternity.

‘Toing’ with the idea

This is the fourth commercial for the innerwear brand. Continuing the ‘Crafted for Fantasies’ tagline, this commercial takes on the metrosexual male.

The ad opens on a frame where a husband looks at the moon through a sieve and then looks at his wife, marking Karwah Chauth (the ritual in which a woman fasts for the good health of her husband). Similar situations, typical of Hindi cinema and soap operas, are captured, but with a man instead of a woman as the protagonist/weaker one. The ad has also been shot in a Bollywood style.

Finally, man, with his troubled image in society, takes his worries to God and rings the temple bells. In true Hindi movie style, his prayers are answered when a Amul Macho vest drops from the sky and he is no longer ill treated by the women.

Sandeep Seksaria, director, JG Hosiery, in a conversation with afaqs!, reveals that the brand wants to communicate that “once you get in touch with Amul Macho, it stirs up a lot of emotions. These could be fantasies, macho feelings and a sense of confidence”.

Thus far...

The first ad for the brand by Saints & Warriors showed a newlywed woman fantasise over her husband’s trunks on a dhobi ghat (a place where clothes are washed, generally near the banks of a water body). The accompanying jingle of ‘Yeh to bada Toing hai’ was quite a hit. The second piece of communication harped on fantasies and acted on how animals would react if they were made to wear Amul Macho briefs.

This time round, Seksaria says, the focus was to be kept on the vest.

Manly man

So how did a man turn out to be the centre of attention this time? Singh says, “Amul Macho stands for machismo in its elemental sense and after the previous ads, this time the route was the metrosexual male.” He adds that for the next piece of communication, the agency will find another route that emotes machismo in its primitive sense.

“The idea is to bring out machismo in a man and at the same time, not appear as women-beaters,” says Amitabh Chatterjee, creative head, Saints & Warriors.

‘Vest’ed interest

The insight that the agency worked on is that the metrosexual man doesn’t necessarily wear vests. “Also, the research and study that we conducted pointed in the same direction,” says Chatterjee. “Since nobody wants to be seen as a wimp, we went ahead with the idea,” he concludes.

With male fairness creams advertising heavily, the metrosexual male was popularised to a great extent. Chatterjee, however, thinks that the metrosexual man is on his way out. Also, the target group that Amul Macho speaks to isn’t metrosexual.

Stepping on toes

The first ad received flak from the industry. The second one received flak from PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), since orangutans wearing the underwear were used in the ad. We wonder whose feathers will be ruffled this time.

Seksaria, though, isn’t worried. He says, “We’ve created the ad with good humour in mind and not to hurt any sentiments.”

The tone of voice for Amul Macho so far has been fun, young, macho and irreverent.

Incidentally, the ad is being received well. Ram Krishna Gopi Yadav, creative director, Lowe Lintas, is thoroughly impressed. “Loved the take on the metrosexual male. Very funny,” he chuckles. He especially likes the Bollywood connect and the loud humour.

Yadav adds that the Bollywood route, though taken umpteen times by various brands, has been done well and creates a connect.

The first reaction of Niranjan Kaushik, creative director McCann Erickson, is that the ad is impressive. “The start of the ad, of Karwa Chauth by a bloke, grabs attention,” he says. He points out a fantasy in this ad too, like being made a pass at, inside the bus.

But Kaushik feels let down when the hero of the ad, reached the temple. Overall he feels the ad had a good start, but the plot loses weight somewhere half way. "Yeh itna kuch toing nahi tha, after all," he ends.

Competition

Currently, the other players in the branded innerwear segment, are VIP, Rupa, Lux and Dixcy. Apart from VIP, Amul Macho is the other innerwear brand that hasn’t used a brand ambassador for its advertising. The others, at some point or the other, have used one. Rupa works with Hrithik Roshan for MacroMan, Lux Cozi has Sunny Deol and Dixcy used Salman Khan.

Seksaria is of the opinion that a brand ambassador limits the communication. “The idea needs to be woven around the sensibilities of the endorser. But here, we have an open canvas to do what we want,” he says.

Apart from ‘toing’

Of Amul’s Rs 20 crore media spends, nearly 65 per cent is diverted to the electronic media. These include C&S and Doordarshan. In areas with limited television reach, the company banks on print. This print spend takes up about 10 per cent, as does radio, while 15 per cent of the spend goes towards outdoor advertising.

This campaign, too, will make use of all media vehicles. Currently, the agency is working on the radio communication.

Amul Macho continues to be strong in the Bihar, UP and Jharkhand markets. It also has a considerable presence in North India, West India and markets such as Bengaluru, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in the south.