Fogg’s new TVC seeks to address the 'elephant' in the room

Fogg, Vini Cosmetics’ flagship deodorant brand, has released a witty ad film that asks people to be patient and continue taking all the necessary COVID precautions for some more time before going back to their normal lives.

Conceptualised by The Womb, the spot uses elephant as a metaphoric representation of the pandemic and delves on the famous Hindi idiom 'Haathi nikal gaya, bas pooch baaki hai' to deliver the brand’s message.

On the launch of the campaign, Darshanbhai Patel, MD and CEO, Vini Cosmetics, said, “As market leaders and corporate citizens of the country, we felt it was our duty to stand with the people of India in the fight against Corona. As India opens up and starts feeling normal, caution is equally important. The first time we heard this idea, we knew the message resonated with our thinking.”

Navin Talreja, founding partner of The Womb, added in a press note, “Sometimes, the simplest of briefs turn out to be the trickiest ones. The brief to us was, ‘we should give a message of hope and optimism to the people of the India’. And, the challenge was connecting it back to the brand in a way that was meaningful…”

The brand’s team says that Fogg has always been a part of enjoyment for Indians. “Yet, given the pandemic, people have lost out on those times, but are impatient to get back. We had to encourage people to stay patient and wait for the good times to be back and make Fogg a part of their lives again. It was not enough to just spread hope, but also motivate consumers to be cautious and careful.”

Industry review:

Aditya Jaishankar, founder of Voxbox (an app for children) and former South India planning head at McCann, says, “The ad is a great clutter breaker and one can’t help, but stand up and notice. It also beautifully brings in the brand at the end as a harbinger of fun times ahead. A rather clever way of making an entry in the consumers' mind even before things have returned to normalcy.”

Jaishankar agrees that cautioning the consumer is always a good thing and appreciates the “clever tactic” of using an elephant to highlight the scale and magnitude of the problem the country has faced.

However, he adds that brands need to take note of a few things in times like these. “Making a statement that the worst is over, with respect to the pandemic, is probably not the right one to make. The analogy of the elephant is great, but the brand probably should have been a little cautious while saying that only the tail of the problem remains and the problem is no longer as big as it was earlier.”

He points out that brands should avoid making statements about issues that they have no credibility on. “Considering the third COVID wave could be around the corner, it is wise to tread with caution and not make statements that can be misleading.”