TANISHQ WEDDING AD (2013)

A wedding is considered one of the most important days in a person’s life. In many cultures it serves as a complete transition into adulthood, a permission to be a new family. Through out the ages weddings have been used as an expression of happiness, success, duty and prosperity. In the marriage ceremony, a couple makes a public declaration of lifelong commitment to love each other. A commitment, by its nature, is a challenge. Saying ‘I will’ to those vows obliges you to forgive and be forgiven. It will be tough at times! So marriage is a risk, but a risk worth taking. There’s plenty of evidence to show married couples are more likely to be healthy, wealthy and wise.

 A wedding ceremony is something which every girl dreams about. It is and will be one of the more memorable events in her life. Lot of emotions arise inside her. There is the anticipation of new life, excitement to share life with someone else, then there is fear of the unknown, mixed with certain anxiety about what could go wrong, and if she is an Indian, then those cheesy romantic scenes and songs of Karan Johar's movies make a tiny home in her mind. 

No wonder Indian jewellery companies make advertisements that almost always focuses on weddings or allied events as the trigger for purchase. Now, watch this advertisement:

Tanishq, an upper-middle class brand of jewellery from the house of Tata, has given us a lot of creatively visualized ads with Aishwarya Rai swirling and simpering in surreal landscapes in the past (which apparently Sanjay Leela Bhansali got inspired from...lol). However, in this ad, the brand cuts through a lot of cultural clutter and gives us a refreshing perspective on two ideas - one, that it is perfectly normal for the mother of a young child to remarry, and for the groom to accept the woman and her child as a matter of course; and more importantly, by choosing a non-fair, not very young looking woman as the lead in the ad, Tanishq breaks away from the extant advertising and cultural norms. 

When i first saw the ad, i was a bit shocked noticing the fact that a commercial can be so bold to make a statement which, in Indian society, is still not very acceptable. But they did it and have done it with elegance. It may not be the best ad but it is good to notice that we are getting matured.  

I loved how the ad makers played with us when they give that split second shot of the groom looking angry. The audience starts to think "ahhhh, this one's gonna be an evil stepfather..." and then he surprises us all by carrying the little girl with a smile.

 I liked the ending where the child innocently asks "aj se daddy bulaoon (Shall I call you daddy from today?)"...heartfelt ..truly! 

A huge salute to the agency who did the ad, the guys who approved the budget and the teams that did the convincing.