How are we supposed to react? The poor poppet is missing her poppy, …. oooo touching touching! Shall I wipe a tear or two? Sniff and sob if you want me to?
Why on earth would a girl want to call papa within moments of leaving his home during the bidaai.
More than anyone else including myself, I feel sorry for the guy this Papa’s pet is marrying. Imagine him mollycoddling a dear ladli beti who is missing her poppy dearest, all the way to his home and probably for the rest of his life.
One question. Dear lady why did you marry at all, if you had to call up popsie dear within 3 minutes of leaving home?
The shaadi ambience in Reliance Mobile“Papa Kahan Hai Aap” is straight out of Hum Aapke Hain Kaun yet again. After movies, TV serials, we now have even ads cashing in on the HAHK syndrome. (Er.. advertising was supposed to be a creative field)
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The ad goes thus:-
During her bidai, while seated next to dulhe raja in the doli-car daughter dearest opens a gift from Papa dearest and discovers a Reliance Mobile phone, immediately calls him up teary eyed asks a pertinent doubt, ''Papa , kahan hai aap?''. All this is interspersed with flashbacks of pita and beti playing hide n seek in her childhood...oh please stop, Im overcome with grief!!
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The way the model hams, Kareena Kapoor should be spending sleepless nights over impending competition. And the Papa model is so miscast he looks like her brother rather than Papa.
Reliance is stretching the emotional appeal; a bit too far in its ads. The only good one is the ad in which Papa (here we go again) in Delhi tells long bedtime stories over his Reliance Mobile to son in Bombay. At least it carries the message of supposedly low call tariffs.
But what about “Papa kahan hai aap” What message on the product does it carry. Absolutely nothing. No product benefits, attributes, spoken about at all. Just emotions that if don’t choke you senseless you are one mean heartless cad. Whoever at Mudra thought this up must have thought he/she has hit a jackpot of an idea.
Though a few may not like this ad, nevertheless the emotional appeal will tug at many heartstrings and make many hearts melt. Especially betis and their daddies.
Notice how the closest of relations have been utilised. Besides this one, others like:-
Mother and son- Sehwag ki maa (this ad makes lesser sense than Mandira Bedi when she talks cricket),
If winning hearts of probable customers by melting them is the intent, Reliance has hit the nail on the head bang on. The ads have captured their target, the rest who find faults with the ad. weren’t exactly the target anyway.
All these ads carry the uniform jingle that conveys how an average Indian aspires to own a mobile phone that is affordable, “ik soch thee, ik sapna thaa” which is appropriate, but the storyboard just stinks.
By the way, what is so emotional about a cellular service and handset anyway? A cell is a cell is a cell, where do emotions come in
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So what must we expect next:
A girl writing with Rotomac Pens crying while she scribbles , “Oh Professorji, kahan hain aap?”
A girl cleaning the toilet rim with Harpic Cleaner, weeping “Oh Shantabai, kahan hain aap?”
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