Working in the advertising industry of Pakistan, ironically, all I’ve been hearing is consistent admiration and love for our neighbors.
Apparently we Pakistanis are simply obsessed with Indian advertisements, but the appreciation is not without reason. They are innovative, with hard hitting concepts that carry across the message beautifully. The result: TVC copies are becoming more and more prevalent in our industry.
Amidst the praises, comes a new ad by Mahindra India for its new Verito, with the tagline ‘Grow Up to the New Look’. It seems an average ad with a decent execution. Indian actor, Jimmy Shergill actually did a good job at being the badass hero.
But why is it popular all of a sudden? I’ll tell you why.
JWT Pakistan has openly copied the Indian ad for Tapal’s Tezdum brand! And what’s worse is, it’s a really BAD replica!
It’s a shame, really, what with Tapal being a local company and such strong brand recognition, that their ad agency could not bring forward a better idea than this. Causing us to think, “Dear JWT, Copyrights Aapke Father Ke Hain Kya?”
I guess it’s not fair to blame JWT for copying the ad, but I expected them to get the execution right at least. The ad is a complete rip-off and not in the good way. It’s awful on so many levels; I had to put it down in bullets.
• Ahsan Khan as a badass…?? Urwa Hocane the home maker…?
What were the casting people thinking? Ahsan looks all cute and boyish and Urwa, who has a rather sophisticated look, is completely out of place in the ad. The only good part was Shamoon Abbasi – the perfect villain.
• The over the top script
Such a difference! Ahsan is being all smiley and cheerful as he threatens Shamoon. The Tezdum ad fails to incorporate the ‘bharam’ of the Verito TVC and instead it’s rather pointless.
• The ‘wife’ also handing out hollow threats to the ‘villain’
Who would put their wife in front of the badguy? Wouldn’t you rather want her safe and far away from the mean man? The Verito ad shows chemistry between the wife and the hero without any dialogues. Why was it taken over the top in the ad by JWT?
With all the misses in the TVC, one wonders when will Pakistani ideas flourish in the market and we will be able to witness Indians copying us?
Watch the video for the Mahindra Verito TVC below:
Now, watch the video for the Tapal Tezdum TVC below:
Tell us what you think in the comments below.
