Nostalgic Ads of 90's - Brand Awareness

Yesterday I was watching a video of fevikwick on YouTube when right side panel just showed the old fevikwick ad of 90s.  With curosity, I clicked on that video and it played the same ad which I have seen during my childhood. While I was viewing this ad, YouTube intelligent algorithm showed other videos of TV commercials during my boyhood days.  One after another, I watched all of those commercial ads which I remembered and from there writing a post on old Doordarshan ads came in my mind and I finally decided to pen it down.

While today generation might be hooked to not-so-effective ads of Body Spray Deo but then I belong to yesteryears of 90's  and I have grown up watching these TV commercials where focus have always been  - how to connect audience and make the brand part of our families. These brands have always focused on targeting middle class, carried simplistic form of conveying brand messaging and adding the cultural flavor to establish much needed connection between a brand and it’s consumer.

Apart of user centric brand messaging, the presentation these old TV ads conveyed, shows the lifestyle of 90s when there wasn’t too many resources. It was the time of only one TV channel, 2 movies in a week and special programs for Sundays i.e lifestyle wasn't so fast/messy during those days.  Consumers of 90s were so connected to these TV commercials that often these brands were recognized by the messaging in their TV ads.

Here are my top 5 yesteryears ads and I am sure you will like them too. There are some funny ads (if you compare them with today’s TV ads version), but just focus on the content and inclusion of cultural flavor which create a bridge between brand and its consumers. Here you go:

Pan Paraag

Main characters : Shammi Kapoor & Ashok Kumar
Pan Parag is a popular product today, but to make it popular, veteran actors Shammi Kapoor & Ashok Kumar were roped in a TV ad.
Famous punch lines:
1)    Par ham aapse ek baat kahna to bhool hee gaye (& the background music…)
2)    “…baraatiyon ka swagat Pan Parag se kijiye”
3)    “Ohhoo.. Pan Parag!!! …hamein kya malloom ki aap bhi Pan Paraag ke shaukeen hain” 

Dhara Oil:

A little boy running away from home goes back just at the thought of his mother's 'garma-garam jalebi'. The child-like innocence is hard to reconstruct again and this commercial recalls calmness of growing up years.
Famous punch lines:
1)    “…sab mujhe gussa karte hain, main ghar chodh ke jaa rahaa hoon..”
2)    “..par ghar mein to maa ne garma-garam jalebiyan banaayi hain”
3)    “…..Jalebi!!!..”
Main Highlight: The sheer innocence, the imagination and expression can make anyone heart melt. Brilliant ad.

Hamdard Cinkara – Javed Jaffery
A very rare old Hamdard Cinkara English TV Ad featuring the brilliant Javed Jaffery & glimpse of his little locking moves.
I am sure many of us must be seeing this ad after many years. The ad started with brilliant locking moves of Javed Jaffery and then getting fatigue during the day.
Main highlight:  when he broke the glass and come out as winner distributing papers to fellow works.

Old Classic Indian Ad of Lehar Pepsi
Main Characters: Aamir Khan, Mahima Chowdhary and Aishwarya Rai.
Today we see Amir Khan endorsing Coke, but it was way back around 1992-93 when he first acted for Lehar Pepsi Ad. This TV commercial is actually an exact copy of it's English version ad where lead actor was Michel J. Fox.
Famous Punch Line: Yehi hai right choice baby – Aha!

Cadbury’s dairy milk – Dancing girl & Batsmen hitting for six
Famous punch lines (well the song is itself the punchline of this ad)
Song ..”kuch swaad hai zindagi mein…” sung by “Shankar Mahadevan”
Main highlight – when lady comes out from bench and tear the security to dance in state of euphoria, full of emotions.  Brilliant.

Nerolac Paints:
Main Highlight - The song. Beautifully picturised showcased the painting work going on in house, friendly Nerolac Painters and beautiful painted walls.

Nirma Super : Deepika ji & Shopkeeper
Famous Punchlines – Actually everything related to this ad is punchline itself.
Video – Haven’t got the video. Tried finding it. However I can present the textual format. Hope everyone likes it.

Shopkeeper: Oh ho Deepika ji , aaiye aaiye, ye lijiye aapka sab saman taiyar
After looking to some other soap (in basket) which is not Nirma
Deepika(Customer): Nahi Nahi ye nahi who (pointing at nirma).
Shopkeeper: Par aap to hamesha woh, purana wala sabun....(stammering)
Deepika: Leti thi, par jab wahi safedi, mujhe kam damo mein mile to koi ye kyun le, wo(nirma) na le!
Shopkeeper: Man gaye!!
Deepika: Kise?
Shopkeeper: Aapki parkhi nazar aur nirma super dono ko !!!

Hamaara Bajaaj –
Famous punch line – “Buland bhaarat ki buland tasvir – hamaara Bajaaj”
The ad is so beautifully pictured that it connects the brand with consumer of different faiths. Our cosmopolitan culture is brilliantly showcased and Bajaj is fixed as part of this culture, makes it instant hit with Indian consumer of that era. Whether revealing the vehicle to his mother by the son, or washing the vehicle by the owner, or taking a ride on scooter, Bajaj was considered to be the Aam aadmi ki sawaari and it became hit with common man in India. One of the best ad featuring creativity of fixing the brand in daily lifestyle.

Pledge Your eyes:  While I was student during those days, but this was one such ad which conveyed the social messaging in a very simple & effective way. Aishwarya Rai was newly formed Miss World during those days and when said that “She will pledge her eyes” and also requested others to  help in this cause, makes the messaging very effective. She looks very beautiful in the ad and content is mostly focused on her eyes and message she is conveying. Beautifully narrated.

Bajaj Bulbs - Based on few comments by some of my blogger friends, I am upading this post with an insertion of Bajaj Bulbs ads. Like many others, the background song is the main USP of this ad. It connects the brand with the user since childhood days to the days when he become old. 

Main Highlights: 

"Jab main chota bachcha tha, badi sharaarat karta tha (same lines were used in movie Golmaal-1)

"Jab roshan hota bajaaj"

"Ab mai bilkul boodha hoon, goli khaakar jeeta hoon" (how true is that)

"meri chori pakdri jaati..." (can't stop laughing on this line)

I thing you will agree with me, these ads were having charms of their own. They reflect the mood of nation, the society & people. Nothing can replace the aura of those days ads. We hope, ad makers will learn from these old brilliant ads about the value of brand-consumer connection and simple yet effective way of presentation.

Please share if your favorite ad of 90's. I will be happy to have your valuable comments.