New Delhi: An advertisement released by Cadbury India on 25 December for its 5star chocolate is receiving flak for allegedly being insensitive and portraying the youth in poor light.
Conceptualised by advertising company Ogilvy, the 50-second ad features a young man and an elderly woman.
The ad shows the young man relishing a Cadbury 5star chocolate bar when the woman asks him to pick up her walking stick that she had dropped by mistake, to which he says yes but does nothing.
The elderly woman then gets up to pick up the stick herself. At that very moment, a giant piano falls on the bench where she was sitting moments ago. She then goes on to thank the young man for not doing anything as it saved her life.
The ad ends with the chocolate product’s new taglines — ‘kabhi kuch na karke bhi dekho’ (Sometimes, try doing nothing) and ‘Eat 5star. Do nothing’.
The advertisement has received some appreciation too, but most people criticised it for being insensitive. Some even mocked the new tagline, saying — “Eat 5-star and be stupid”.
This ad is specially for people like me. Kabhi kuch na kar ke dekho.@CadburyWorld#chocolate@Cadbury5Star@CadburyIndiahttps://t.co/yP8plCiTRN
— Shivansh (@beingSDixit) January 3, 2020
@Cadbury5Star one of the worst ads by Cadbury where young guy does nothing to help an elderly.. so unlike Cadbury. #shame
— Ankit Jain (@jainankit83) December 29, 2019
Eat 5 Star and be stupid. Bakwas No.1 Ad. https://t.co/lLa794M4xn
— Vasanth (@PrabhasmyHero) December 27, 2019
Could not really understand what the new Cadbury 5 star ad is trying to teach the youth @Cadbury5Star
— shruti (@shruti96578967) December 31, 2019
‘Cadbury failed to see youth for their real talent’
Mayur Milan, director of Ideo Insider, a research-based communication consultancy firm, gave a rather detailed account of his disappointment with the advertisement.
Bringing in the nationwide protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, National Register of Citizens and the police brutality in the past three weeks, Milan tweeted, “Very poor timing. Such is the lack in comprehension of the situation that it comes out as a slap on the face to an entire generation (sic).”
Accusing Cadbury of portraying the youth in such an inaccurate light, he said, “Coming from a brand which has given some of the most iconic ads in India, having such a far from real perspective is really shocking. Cadbury was known to know India. But seems like the research, intellect and the sensitivity is drifting away from the brand (sic).”
Milan concluded the thread with, “That is another brand falling and failing to see the youth for their real talent and passion.”
Last month,a nation witnessed the youth of India taking action. Then @MDLZ decides to launch an add where a youth is shown doing nothing. Very poor timing. Such is the lack in comprehension of the situation that it comes out as a slap on the face to an entire generation (1/n)
— Mayur Milan (at ?) (@mayormilan) January 2, 2020
In a world where brands are changing with time, pegging many of their advertisements on ‘woke’ issues — Urban Clap released an advertisement on Women’s Day 2017, Fastrack, back in 2013, came out with an advertisement featuring a lesbian sexual encounter — Cadbury chose to go a different way.
Preceded by the famous Ramesh-Suresh series, the new advertisement does not stray from that tone, albeit it is not as funny.
“Any venture into woke-vertising would’ve technically been off-brand. But then again, the rules are always changing,” Ricardo Vaz, associate creative director at Enormous Brands, said on a ‘woke’ ad for Cadbury 5star.
Also read: Health drinks like Bournvita, Horlicks give your kids more sugar & hardly any nutrition
A brilliant ad . Sums up the dilemma of the time.
What a stupid ad. Cannot believe that in a bid to attract attention of the target audience, content would be so hugely compromised by such an established and iconic brand. Who is the brand manager at Cadbury’s? Someone from reservation quota?