Parachute Advansed Gold juxtaposes Onam preparations with nurses preparing for duty

It was a great way to centre the campaign around the sacrifices... turn it from harvest festival to a 'thanksgiving' one, said Venkatagiri Rao, CCO, SEA & India at VMLY&R Asia, on the ad campaign for Marico's Parachute Advansed Gold.

Rao is referring to Onam, Kerala's beloved festival. He revealed that Marico also wanted to do something topical for this festival and came up with the thought of doing something around nurses, who are Kerala's pride. Kerala, in fact, exports more nurses than any other state in India.

What's also interesting to note is that this gratitude towards nurses fit right into the brand's ethos of nurture and nourish. Most of us see nurses as nourishers and nurturers in hospitals.

The one-minute-33-seconds ad doesn't have any voice-over, but the instrumental music playing in the background is indication enough that it's about a festival. The shot of King Mahabli at the start is a hint that it's about Onam, or that it's a South Indian festival. As the ad progresses, we see people preparing for the festival, dressing up and helping their loved ones. It's a festival of joy and hope. But, at the same time, the ad juxtaposes these scenes with that of nurses getting ready for their shift.

We see a father helping his kids build the Onathappan (a small pyramid structure made of clay, or mud) for the festival. When he applies water on his hands to rub off the mud, the scene shifts to a nurse, who is applying sanitiser to her hands.

Then there is a woman wearing a necklace on her neck for the festival, and also a nurse wearing a face mask while standing in front of a mirror. There's a young woman helping an older woman with her green sari, and there's a nurse helping fix her colleague's PPE suit.

Rao, in the official press release, said, "... while we’re getting busy returning to our 'new normal', for nurses on the frontline, nothing has changed. They continue to fight the grim fight, every single day. So, it was important to make this festival about gratitude and remembrance."

What's more interesting about the ad is that towards the end, three names are revealed to us, who are, in fact, COVID survivors. "... And who better to channel that gratitude for us than COVID survivors. We made real survivors the voices of Parachute Advansed Gold’s #ThankYouNurses film," stated Rao.

Koshy George, chief marketing officer, Marico Limited, said, “As India continues its fight against the pandemic, we wanted to honour the nurturing spirit and tireless efforts of the nurses, who have ensured millions of COVID survivors are with their families this festive season. Parachute Advansed Gold stands for care and nurturance, and has a deeper connect with the consumer larger than just hair.

With this heartwarming ode, Parachute Advansed Gold aims to not only salute them, but also encourages every individual to remember them, and their unparalleled spirit.”

It interesting to note what Rao has said about the ad... It had to be different from the several 'thank you' and 'ode to' ad communication that were released by other brands earlier.

Credits:

Agency: VMLY&R India

CEO: Anil Nair

CCO: Venkatagiri Rao

ECD: Kevin Lobo

Creative Team: Mahesh Ambaliya, Sunil Shinde, Harish Jadhav, Shivali Sharma, Ashwini Bhavsar, Vaidehi Mewawalla, Maryann Rodrigues

Business Director: Alpa Dedhia

Group Head Client Solutions: Khadija Attarwala

Client Solutions Executive: Sejal Choudhary

Agency Producer: Saurabh Pal

Production House: thisisthat

Director: Shihab Karim

Executive Producer: Thomas Koshy

Director of Photography 1: Aslam K Purayil

Director of Photography 2: Georgy Joseph

Offline: Kiran Thomas

Online: Ink&Water

Music Company: The Escape Medium Band