The first ad was released in March 1966 when the horse racing trend was catching up in India. It was fashionable to go to turf clubs. The rich and famous would go for horse racing. In the first ad, the Amul girl was seen riding a horse with the word ‘Thorough bread’ as the punchline. The mascot, since then, has been commenting on many events of national and political importance including the 1976, emergency in India. It did start off with messaging butter, but after a point, they realized there was only that much one could say about butter on a hand-painted outdoor hoarding.
So, then it was decided to run some zingy messaging which touched upon current affairs and topical events which included everything from the weather to festivals and events such as the Derby, giving people food for thought. It was only in the 80’s and 90’s that we saw the birth of politicians, actors and cricketers as caricatures that people talked about. That was the birth of the celebrity-hood and of popular culture as we know it. It was also when the Amul ads started taking a more edgy, satirical turn. The Amul ad banners tell you what is current in India. What is hot?
The parody in the ads have become sharper and faster with time. The Amul girl now wear skimpy clothes, her dressing also revels the fashion trends, and the liberated Indian society. The billboard of Amul in true sense conveys how India thinks, how India functions as a nation. Brand Amul has one of the longest-running advertisement campaigns in India. Amul girl is sharp witted, unapologetic, and feisty. Now she comments on various issues and has a say on everything: from the weather, entertainment, sports, commodities, sports, business, politics, environment – you name the occasion, she has a viewpoint on it.
Although of Indian origin, the unnamed girl has never shied away from making remarks on international issues. As the passage of time over the years the ads also feature international stories and issues, such as the US elections, Donald Trump or the BREXIT in the United Kingdom. Almost every topic is cheekily covered: from political controversies to corruption scandals, sporting triumphs and failures, movie blockbusters and the lives of celebrities. She, the Amul girl has become a perpetual part of the Indians.
As stated in the reading, “Ads, Fads and Consumer Culture” by Arthur Asa Berger, the author also states, “Advertisements are rich in symbolism and there is interesting material for those who have the keys – that is, the theories and the conceptual framework to unlock the meaning. As advertisments are richer in meaning than what we think, communicating ideas and meanings.” One can see this in the Amul ads, her sense of humor has always been admired. The mascot gets away with some nasty, tongue-in-cheek comments. With her age, her wit and her sense of humor has been growing. She continues her satirical commenting on everything with more ferocity. In fact, people who don’t keep updated with newspapers, get the gist of what’s happening in the nation by looking at the billboard.
Important elements in the ads are the picture, the main text and the slogan. The picture is what catches the attention of the audience, what ignites the curiosity being always the key factor to read the message. These pictures are hand drawn over the years adding to the personality of the company. As stated in the reading, “Ads, Fads and Consumer Culture” by Arthur Asa Berger, she stated the importance of using text, “Everything at a commercial including the text is of equal important.
As texts store tremendous amounts of information in themselves and are more complicated that what we imagine.” The contextual knowledge in these ads help in forming the cohesive link between the textual message and the event depicted as a picture. The slogan usually refers to the event or people and links it with the product butter in a witty way. Amul girl, the iconic figure with round eyes and blue hair, transforms herself into different personalities, the personalities are easy to recognize as they are often the one in the news in that week. The pictures may be a replica of the pictures found in newspapers or in posters. The illustrator ensures that he sticks to Amul girl’s trademark features – blue hair, chubby cheeks, wide eyes, no nose and long eyelashes – even while adding twists to the characters.
Once the personalities in the images are resolved, one gets an idea about the event being referred to. Then, the wit in the text can be understood in a better way. Slogans also have an important role to play. By repetition, they become part of our memory and also every- day language, they are used in such a way that they refer to the product butter. In an age where roping in celebrities for ad campaigns has become the trend, Amul’s ads stand out for their simplicity, freshness and their penchant of focussing on current events to bring home a point.
Some people also find a feminist in the Amul girl who she believes is a creation of Nisha daCunha. She goes on to elucidate how Amul has mocked at men, celebrated female achievements (at best, brought them to the fore), and depicted the rapidly changing status of women. Any woman who has made it to the ubiquitous Amul hoarding, there was a saying something powerful about, well… being a woman.
The company has always known to be creative and brave in the way they advertise. Through advertisement they have often raised voices against issues which are otherwise not considered relevant in the FMCG product advertising. Since, most companies refrain from commenting into political issues in India, despite of India being the largest democracy in the world. Also, as stated in the reading, “The Political Language of American Advertising, 1890-1930,” by McGovern, he states that, “Advertising recasts the idea of the American culture and nationality and has always drawn on political imagery to designate consumers, products and consumption.” One can see this as Amul also uses political language in its advertising.
Although the content for the advertisement may be brave, yet Amul with its humour punch establish their view and brand in a subtle way. Moreover, even politicians have never expressed their displeasure because it is made fun of everybody. However, the one aspect that is not touched upon at all is religion. As it would hurt different communities and India is one of the most diverse countries in terms of religion and culture. Other than that, the company is said to be extremely consistent. Even the media strategy of AMUL advertisement was clear, crisp and consistent. Almost all of their print advertisements come in the top corner of the third page in the main newspaper. Earlier it was “Times Of India” where this media innovation was to be seen, now we can even see it in other newspapers as well.
However, the biggest challenge the company face is that while Amul’s topicals ads are very popular, they also posed a challenge – as they needed to be released quickly or else, they would lose much of their impact. Humor is one of the best techniques used for marketing products. It creates a receptive attitude.
The Amul ads of India are a perfect example of the use of humor in advertising. The ads form a good data to verify different theories of humor. Advertisers in India, including Amul, use bilingual techniques to relate to the modern Indian. The advertisements expect the audience to be up-to-date with the latest happening in the world. The relation between its popularity and the complex processing needs are indirectly linked. The incongruous elements in the ad are blended or resolved with the contextual knowledge. The humor thus generated makes the ad appealing and popular, thus providing a good evidence for humor as a good technique in marketing. The success of the longest running ad campaign lies in Amul keeping with the times and understanding the need of the hour.
