|
Using celebrities of Bachchan and Rai’s stature in a same
television commercial is exciting as well as challenging task. But
the O&M team, under the stewardship of Piyush Pandey, decided
to keep it simple, especially with an objective of reinforcing the
'do boond zindagi ki' message among those who failed to immunise
their children against polio.
Says O&M creative consultant, Ajay Gahlaut, “We wanted
to refresh the campaign. We have worked on six commercials with
Mr. Bachchan, so the idea was to provide a different look yet get
across the same message forcefully. Though everybody loves listening
to Mr. Bachchan, there was a possibility of fatiguness creeping
in. So we decided in introduce another celebrity along with Mr.
Bachchan,”
On decision to rope in Rai, Gahlaut offers, “Considering Mr.
Bachchan’s status and involvement in the campaign, the new
celebrity had to be another big star. And Aishwarya, being a woman,
also balanced out Mr. Bachchan’s emotions portrayed in the
commercial. It’s a simple message `do boond zindagi ki’
but the main objective is get all kids immunised at the same time
whenever there is setting up of booth on a nationwide basis.”
The key to usage of two celebrities was in the treatment of the
commercial; phasing out Bachchan and bringing in Rai in the commercial.
“It was as if Mr. Bachchan, who has been used as older authority
or elderly brother figure, saying I am tired of it. From being passionate
and angry, he is now disgusted (with those who are yet to respond
to the initiative for immunisation). So Aishwarya keeps the interest
alive with an element of truth continuing to be associated,”
says Gahlaut, who is the scriptwriter for the new campaign.
The campaign has been conceptualized for the National pulse polio
immunisation programme, scheduled for 4 January and another date
in February.
O&M subsequently plans to work on new campaigns in the next
year. “We plan to continue with Mr. Bachchan. You might see
some more celebrities along with him in the next year,” says
Gahlaut.
|
