MUMBAI: The attack of the weird words continues.

For O&M, which created the the new TVC that plays on the word "Uhu-Uhu", the hope will be that it finds an "Echo" to the success the original 'khaasi ki chutti' (off with the cough) ad delivered for cough syrup brand Glycodin.

The new ad went on air on 21 June and comes nearly a year after its forerunner, the Echo TVC made its well received entry.

The Storyboard: "Uhu-Uhu" campaign spans the life of an individual.

The ad starts with a couple who go to a 'baba' (priest) and ask him to suggest a name for their new- born child. When the father addresses him, the baba goes "Uhu-Uhu" (the sound he makes while coughing). The couple thinks the suggested name is "Uhu-Uhu". In the next shot, the grandmother is shown cooing the baby and addressing him as --- what else but "Uhu-Uhu."

Scene moves ahead in time: boy is in school and the class teacher coughs. "Uhu-Uhu" stands up and gives his attendance to much ridicule from his mates.

Cut to next shot: "Uhu-Uhu" is shown playing in an inter-university hockey tournament. In the background the crowd is shown cheering and chanting --- "Uhu-Uhu".

Next, the guy is shown at his marriage. Wife accidentally coughs and "Uhu-Uhu" thinks that she is addressing him.

Finally, "Uhu-Uhu" and his wife have a baby and they take him to the same family baba to suggest a name for the child. When "Uhu-Uhu" informs the baba that he has had a son, the baba is just about to cough again, when suddenly "Uhu-Uhu" makes the baba drink Glycodin and waits for his response. Relieved off his cough baba gushes, "Glycodin."
Male voice-over then intones, "Khasi ki Chutti."

Says O&M copywriter Nilay Moonje, "The brief was very clear. 'Instant relief from cough' remains the main proposition of the ad with a generous dose of humour. The client was also very open to ideas and was excited about this particular script."

O&M's senior creative director duo Sagar Mahabaleshwarkar and Pushpinder Singh were responsible in giving this ad a shape. While Mahabaleshwarkar was unavailable for comment, Singh (who's joining Ambience as national creative director next month) said, "In this ad the humour quotient is very important as it breaks through the clutter. Actually the whole credit goes to Nilay who thought of the whole concept and penned it down."

Singh adds, "When we did the first commercial for Glycodin, the value sales of the product was Rs 60 million, After the commercial broke, the sales jumped more than double to almost Rs 135 million. The price of the product was the same, everything else was the same about the product, so the ad contributed largely to this rise in sales and that in itself speaks volumes."

If the current ad does anywhere as near as well, the client should be going "Uhu-Uhu"!