Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Sprite TV Ad Review

Sprite soft drink used to run ads with the tag line, "seedhi baath, no bakwas" (straight talk, no nonsense). In these ads the straight forward no nonsense guy gets the girl, and gets to meet the superstar.

In the latest Sprite fridge pack ad, they have done an about turn and from straight forward, they have gone to outright manipulation. A bunch of guys are hanging around and the sidekick says that he is hungry. The hero pulls out the Sprite fridge pack. They invite a neighbor auntie and the hero offers her a Sprite while the rest of the guys are in the kitchen.

On hearing the sound of falling utensils the auntie goes to the kitchen and is shocked to find it in a mess. The side kick tells her that they are trying to cook lunch for her. The kind auntie offers to cook instead.

The ad ends with the chuckling side kick putting the Sprite bottle back in the fridge and says "breakfast, Iyer auntie."

Sprite team, if you are listening, you have lost me!

There are few more ads that depict such manipulative behavior. I wonder what motivates the advertisers to glorify manipulative attitudes.

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