Top television ads in October: Airtel 4G girl does it again, takes no. 1 spot

Advertisements for Cadbury, the chocolate brand, won three places each in the ad reach and ad diagnostics indices in the Mint-Ipsos-TVAdIndx survey of television commercials (TVCs) aired in October—a month of feasting and gifting for Diwali.

On the ad reach index, it was an Airtel ad by Taproot that took the No. 1 spot. It features Sasha Chhetri being challenged to a contest: Whose mobile-phone network can download apps faster? No prizes for guessing: Chhetri wins hands down.

Ads for Cadbury Celebrations Rich Dry Fruit (Contract Advertising), Dairy Milk chocolate and 5 Star (Ogilvy) took the second, fifth and eighth places, respectively, on the ad reach index, which measures brand awareness, recall and reach. Ads for a motley array of consumer products and services figured on the remaining six spots—Pepsi (3), Tata Sky (4), Coca-Cola (6), Lenovo Yoga Intel notebook (7), Flipkart (9) and Škoda Rapid (10).

On the ad diagnostics index, which measures the popularity of ads on softer aspects such as likeability, believability and enjoyability, the Cadbury 5 Star ad took the top spot. The ad features the comical Ramesh-Suresh duo, who are always lost in a trance when they eat the chocolate; in this one, they trip up a thief who is running away with a bag he steals from a park bench. New Cadbury 5 Star with extra caramel, goes the voice-over, jo khaaye, extra kho jaaye (whoever eats it, gets extra lost).

TVCs for Airtel, Cadbury Celebrations Rich Dry Fruit, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate, Tata Sky, Flipkart, Lenovo Yoga Intel notebook, and Amazon rounded off the index.

For once, barring the Airtel ad, October was remarkable for the rarity of TVCs for mobile-phone and mobile-phone service providers on the Mint-Ipsos-TVAdIndx survey.

For e-commerce marketplaces Flipkart and Amazon, October was a crucial month—they relentlessly wooed online festive shoppers in their biggest showdown to-date. Flipkart had a point to prove—it wanted to retrieve the lead it had conceded to the American rival in recent months. And Amazon to widen it. By all accounts, the battle was closely and hard fought and the final word is yet to be said on the biggest rivalry in Indian e-commerce.

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2. Cadbury Celebrations Rich Dry Fruit

The ad shows grown-up children coming together at their parents’ house for Diwali. The entire family, including children and grandchildren, are a little sentimental as the father, played by actor Dalip Tahil, has decided to sell the home they grew up in. They ask their father to reconsider his decision. The father says his decision has been driven by the fact that his children hardly come visiting. However, when he announces he’s changed his mind, the mood turns festive. The tag line: ‘Iss Diwali, khushiya le chalo (Spread happiness this Diwali)’.

3. Pepsi

The ad shows a group of students protesting as the management has refused to accept their demands. The student leader says they will not drink even a drop of water. In the meantime, one of the students spots a Pepsi bottle strapped on to a fellow student’s bag. Unable to control himself, he drinks from the bottle. When he realizes that everyone is looking at him, he says, ‘Pepsi thi, yaar, pi gaya (It was Pepsi,so had to drink it)’.

4. Tata Sky

Actor Amitabh Bachchan anchors a puppet show in which he introduces the Thakur clan and their favourite TV shows. Thakur Senior likes to watch cookery shows; his wife, reality shows; his son love stories and daughter-in-law, comedy shows; and one of his twin grandsons likes to watch horror movies. Thakur Senior gets Tata Sky so that everyone can watch their favourite programmes. The tag line: ‘Isko laga daala toh family jhinghalala (This takes care of the entire family’s entertainment)’.

5. Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate

The ad shows an alien who finds a Dairy Milk Chocolate, takes a bite and starts dancing. The other aliens are astounded. He opens the pack and gives them chocolates as well—all of them start dancing to an “interstellar party” jingle. Once the chocolate is finished, everyone stops dancing. One of the aliens opens the door of the control room and everybody jumps with joy as they find chocolates there. A voice-over announces that Dairy Milk’s new taste is more chocolatey than before. The tag line: Tastes more chocolatey.