Cadbury 5 Star's soft touch

#NoHardFillings is a set of 10 films conceptualised by Ogilvy & Mather. While nine videos have been uploaded till now (one video per day) in the last one week, the last video will be put up soon. Amongst these, five videos - 'Nail & Tyre', 'Aloo & Karela', 'Coconut & Brain', 'Toaster & Burnt Toast' and 'Art & Commercial Art' - have already attracted over 1.3 lakh views online. The other videos are titled 'Cricket ball & China', 'Pant & Scissors', 'O Key & Volume Key' and 'Petrol & Wallet'.

As the titles indicate, the paired objects can either have opposite attributes or one can have a disastrous effect on the other. And, the creative team has captured the conversation between them in a deadpan fashion. So while the nail, toaster, cricket ball, scissors and coconut apologise for the damaging effect they have on the cycle tyre, bread slice, delicate china doll, trousers and human brain, respectively, the potato teases bitter gourd; the high petrol price creates a dent in the wallet; and abstract art gives competition to artistic paintings.

In fact, the brand aired its television commercial announcing the new variant through its characters, Ramesh-Suresh, recently. The current set of videos has been specifically made for online viewers.

Cadbury 5 Star is not a new entrant in the digital arena. In fact, Ogilvy helped the brand in creating the interactive Ramesh-Suresh 'The Date Fillum' film release on YouTube under the brand's thought, 'Lost in 5 Star', last year. The audience could give suggestions on how they wanted the story to proceed. This campaign was also the first to be created purely for the digital medium.

Launched in 1969, Cadbury 5 Star is a combination of chocolate, caramel and nougat. Over the years, the chewy choco bar brand has come in various variations like 5 Star Fruit & Nut and 5 Star Crunchy. The brand's current proposition, 'Jo Khaaye Kho Jaaye', has been portrayed through the moronic brothers in the Ramesh-Suresh series.

When the brand asked the agency to come up with a campaign to announce Cadbury 5 Star's "soft" variant, the creative team thought the campaign had to have a digital presence as well.

Abhijit Avasthi, national creative director, Ogilvy & Mather, says, "Cadbury 5 Star as a youth brand has always been active online and on television. We have seen that the crazier the ideas, the better it has worked for the brand. So, while discussing about the ideas, someone suggested punning on 'no hard fillings'. The videos are, therefore, a funny take on product attribute."

Amitabh Agnihotri and Samir Sojwal, senior creative directors, have led the team on this campaign. Ayappa KM of Early Man Film directed the videos.

Stating it to be a different form of film-making, Avasthi reveals that although its creatives were much easier to execute than with live actors, it was important to plan the screen play and get the timing of the dialogues right. "We had to write and rewrite the dialogues several times even after the editing," he says.

As for the online traction gained by all the nine videos, Avasthi says more than traction, he has always looked for qualitative feedback of the team's work. Within a day of uploading the videos, Avasthi received calls from friends and colleagues from the industry talking about the campaign. Speaking on his personal favourite, Avasthi says, "The 'Toaster & Burnt Toast' video. It's the cruellest of the lot."