Kejriwal as Super Mario; AAP is killing it on social

AAP is really going places with its digital ads. Instead of just taking the route of regular political ads (the kind featuring images of party leaders), the party is concentrating on creating interesting digital content projecting party chief and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal as the hero. The latest video is a rendition of popular video game character Super Mario created by Japanese video gaming company Nintendo. It also includes the signature Mario tune.

In the original game, the character Mario, a hero, sets out on an adventure and evades dangers to rescue a princess. The AAP has created a 'Super Kejriwal' character modeled on Mario, who bears a distinct resemblance to the Delhi CM, complete with AAP cap and muffler. The character goes around listing the achievements of the party in the video and fighting villains. The video was posted on AAP's Facebook profile. As a political party's route to advertising, this is an interesting concept.

So, who would be aware of the Mario connection? Young adults who have had a fair share of exposure to chip based console video games for TV in the '90s, mainly before computers, Play Stations and phones took over gaming. While Kejriwal is the hero, the video also features a couple of characters who resemble Anil Baijal, the Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Delhi and Manoj Tiwari, the prime face of the BJP. Both are projected as villains.

The quirky video is in line with AAP's digital initiatives being rolled out for the upcoming Delhi Legislative Assembly elections, scheduled for February 8, 2020. Recently, we wrote about AAP taking to Twitter with a morphed version of an over-a-decade-old Ambuja Cements commercial. The party had attacked its rivals along with the LG, in that campaign as well.