Here's Amazon Prime Video India's Diwali spot

And a quick round-up of the brand's previous ads in this market.

This Diwali, festival-themed ads are all around us. Amid the clutter, here's an ad that stood out thanks to its simple ingredients - a short slice-of-life story about a happy family that has a big challenge to deal with and a small twist at the very end. The branding element was soft and the focus was on story-telling.

Here's Amazon Prime Video India's Diwali spot

New digitial campaign by Amazon Prime Video - Kahaaniyon wali Diwali"We are all storytellers. It's a tradition as old as civilisation. There are stories all around us. Some stories entertain while others stir something up inside you. This one is a sort of re-telling of a conventional happy story - keeping the sweetness and warmth of a father and son's relationship intact... the idea was to open 'Pandora's box' of stories with your loved ones because that's what we do at Amazon Prime Video," says the brand team in a press note.

Ad Review

Ayan Banik

Subrata Chakraborty

Joono SimonAyan Banik, brand strategy, Cheil India, says, "... It's not at all natural or believable... the twist in the tale is forced. A flip or a derailment in the story works only if it happens in a smooth, natural way... it's an art. When it's done in a forced way it comes across quite tacky," adding, "With communication of this kind, you don't necessarily have to be smart... you just need to be honest and real."

Subrata Chakraborty, managing director, Brand Curry, and promoter, Purnaa (a network for people above 55 years), says, "It seems like an attempt to position Prime as a family offering. Typically, competition like Netflix would try and differentiate basis software appeal and aspects like titles, series and original productions. The context of emotional pay-offs in such a scenario has often been individualistic or clannish (for example - a school or college group, young movie clubs, etc.). It is interesting that Amazon attempts to bring consumption of this category in the family space, which was so far operating only in the individual space. This may broad base the market and may even transform it into a mass consumption category."

Joono Simon, founder, CEO and CCO, Brave New World, says, "Honestly, I couldn't get the message or the sentiment behind this one. Even if one goes past questioning the appropriateness of featuring a blind protagonist for a product that is all about rich visual experiences, one can't understand the key message of this commercial."

He adds, "A commercial with a forced twist to promote stories with a twist? Although the attempt to tell the story behind the festival of Diwali is commendable, the whole premise of the family with a blind person in the lead for no rhyme or reason seems very contrived and confusing. When the story is strained, the execution becomes laboured too. If Diwali is our Super Bowl for brands, this one is a damp squib."

Here's a look at some recent ads by Amazon Prime Video India.