BackSpot Light | Axe Blast
Ranbir Kapoor's image as a playboy gels well with the ad as it brings alive the brand promise
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Scent of victory
Reviewer: Renton D’Sousa
The national creative director and chief executive officer of Triton Communications Pvt. Ltd, Renton D’Sousa has been in the advertising industry for over 30 years and has worked on campaigns for Aquaguard, Close Up and ICICI Prudential.
Campaign
The latest ad campaign for consumer goods maker Hindustan Unilever’s Axe deodorant by Bartle Bogle Hegarty, Singapore, shows an ordinary young man and actor Ranbir Kapoor keeping score of how many times they are able to attract female attention in the course of one day. In a rather humorous turn of events, the ordinary guy upstages the celebrity, courtesy Axe Blast.
Your first thoughts on the ad?
Ranbir Kapoor’s image is that of a playboy. How does that gel with the ad?
If you go purely by the creative strategy of the ad, Ranbir’s image as a playboy gels well with the ad as it brings alive the brand promise.
Does this ad feel a little toned down compared to Axe’s previous ads?
The Axe ads aired in India are a lot toned down compared to the others aired internationally. If they had maintained the grammar of the previous ads, the celebrity would have been compromised to a great extent. After having paid a handsome amount to any celebrity, you would want to use him to the maximum, as in the current ad.
How do you view this ad in comparison with previous Axe commercials, considering this is the first time the brand has used a celebrity?
It’s not the first time, as the Ben Affleck commercial has been aired on Indian television before. In my opinion, both these ads have used the celebrity well, wherein the “commoner" scores over the celebrity. Had the celebrity been using the product to get the women, it would have been detrimental to the brand.
Your thoughts on Kapoor as brand ambassador.
Ranbir is a “chick" magnet. In my opinion, the brand has used Ranbir well, given the fact that the aam aadmi (common man) scores over the khaas aadmi (celebrity).
What would you have done differently?
I would have shot the commercial in a manner that would have made it relevant to the Indian idiom. In this way, it would have appeared distinctly different from the Ben Affleck commercial while keeping the essence of the communication intact.
As told to Vidhi Choudhary.
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