Ad Watch - 2: Fevicol...

Hi friends

Next one in the series are the wonderful, logical and extremely hit Fevicol advertisements. Fevicol has established itself not only as a brand, but as a product in its own right. According to Pidilite Industries Ltd, Fevicol enjoys more than 70% of the market share of the adhesive market in India. the main belief among the people is that "Fevicol is bonding and bonding is Fevicol". The fact that it has become generic to the adhesive/glue category is more a source of pride than worry for the company. After all, it brings with it a huge market share, right?


Fevicol is already being exported to over 15 countries including the UAE, South Africa, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Congo, Mozambique, Saudi Arabia and Angola. Plans are under way to launch the brand in Pakistan, Indonesia and Myanmar, says a press release from the advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather India. It has launched the brand in Egypt also. The ad depicting this was featured on the billboards in Bombay as the image of a sphinx with a broken nose sealed with Fevicol.



There are many classic ads of Fevicol - Some of them are really good and the others are simply fantastic. I will present below somw of the finest print ads of Fevicol and also give links to some of the TV Commercials along with a brief description to refresh your memory!

1) This one on the left is a classic and an age-old ad of Fevicol showing that nothing, not even the human soul can escape from the bond of Fevicol. I was not made into a TVC as far as my knowledge is concerned, but it would have really made for a fine TVC. We have seen a similar anology used in a ad in the US by a lotto-company which advertised its lotto-winnings-for-life with the Devil tryng to take away an old-man who refuses to come and avoids death at all costs because of the power of his lotto-winnings.













2) This one is my favorite of all the Fevicol ads - Perhaps it is the most clinically shot Fevicol ad ever! All minute details like the complete absence of leaves below the middle tree and the ignorance of the passersby were taken care of. The ad has a clear and distinct message - Fevicol is bonding and bonding is Fevicol.

3) Another really well-thought of ad is this one on the left - All students of physics may easily understand why this is such a strong message-carrier. The ad clearly reflects the bonding capacities of the adhesive by showing a seemingly simple, yet impossible situation. this ad emphasizes that what may seem impossible for you is not necessarily impossible for Fevicol' adhesive power. It can do the impossible.

Some of the classical ads that were also featured on the official Fevicol website are as below:

1) The Elephant TVC: This is perhaps the oldest TVC of Fevicol, dated back to the year 1990. This ad shows a group of people, including an elephant, trying to separate two-blocks of wood joined together. One end of the joint is being pulled by them while the other end is tied to a wall. A person moves around the room trying to convince the people that it was impossible to "break the bond". One of the famous lines of this ad: "Furniture ka saathi, jiski nishani hai haathi. Fevicol tees saal ka champion. Fevicol aisa jod lagaye, acche se accha na tod paaye".

Cool Fact: The actor in the ad was none other than Rajkumar Hirani - of "Lage Raho MunnaBhai" fame!

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xep4RftkRdo

In case you have a slow internet connection, you can go to this webpage:

http://in.promos.yahoo.com/fevicol/

Here, skip the intro and click on the arrows beside the ads to download the zip-file of each ad. The file is in the .mpg format and is playable on Windows Media Player.

2) The Panihari TVC: This one is also a good one. It was first aired in 1996. It shows a young village damsel who is carrying 3 pots on her head. Many kids try to get her to fall, but she manages to evade even stones, sticks and cycles. The ad shows that the pots are nicely bonded by Fevicol.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0zrvhpPt48

3) The Egg TVC: This was the first famous ad of Fevicol, aired in 1998. It started the trend of Fevicol ads winning many awards and was perhaps the most inspirational ad ever as it spawned a series of really great ads by Fevicol in the next few years. The ad shows a person who is unable to break an egg. He later checks again and finds that the hen which laid that egg was eating grain out of a Fevicol can. The ad motto: "Fevicol ka jod hai, tutega nahin".

This ad was perhaps the first one I saw that had another ad running in the background in perfect sync. The other ad was a radio version of the Fevicol ad.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFFrUOGB138

4) The Cliffhanger TVC: This is my most favorite TVC in the Fevicol series yet, because it was the first commercial that made me laugh like hell. I remember almost choking myself when I saw this ad at dinner time - It was too funny! Released in 1999, the ad speaks for itself. No descriptions except for the classic line used here - "Pakde Rehna, Chodna nahin". What an ad!! Really deserves as many awards as possible.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29d5f1yGQ7s

5) The Shadow/Radio TVC: This ad, aired in 2000, was another innovative way of presenting the same fact that Fevicol can stick anything - almost anything! When it can capture shadows (which are supposed to be just a shadow of a person and nothing more), it can capture anything. Separating a person from his shadow is also not impossible for Fevicol!

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiOhAs4FIK0

6) The Bus TVC: Now this is the Fevicol ad that many of us remember even today. This 2001 ad "stuck" in our minds because of its simplicity in conveying the same age-old message. The scene of so many people sitting on a single bus in a Rajasthani setting is really an ad worth remembering for all ages. What differentiated it from the other Fevicol ads before it was that it was really impossible to think that it was an adhesive-ad till the last shot. This set another trend for the future ads of Fevicol - the one of an element of surprise embedded with that of humour.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTav-vdht0E

7) The Katrina Kaif ad: Don't be surprised by the name - This ad literally falls in the hot-and-fundoo category of adverisements. Kartina gave her face and the ad set the pace. What more to it than advertising the fact that Fevicol has the ultimate adhesive power, "jo tumhare khwabon mein bhi chipak jaatha hai". Seriously, I never liked Kartina that much, but she was irresistable in that ad!

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0n6MHpKgyUM

8) The Aliens TVC: This is the only Fevicol ad that I didn't see till I saw it on YouTube the other day. A clear message - Nothing can get better than this one! Anything that can act as a substitute to gravity has to be the ultimate adhesive!

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6JAPKJTl2k

9) The Rajasthani Kid TVC: This is perhaps the best example of a complete ad – The message was conveyed, the ad was awesome, the music great and the audience mesmerized. The simplicity factor again comes into the picture – Here is a typical kid who doesn’t want to stay in one place. He wants to explore, but is restrained and brought back by his mother always. The mother, finally frustrated, places him on an empty Fevicol can and the kid has no choice but to stay. A wholesome ad, if there ever was one.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBTRv14_Jfc

These are the Fevicol ads that I could find on the internet. If there are anymore that you have to share, please do leave a comment and I will get back to you.

Whar are the implications of these "abstract" ads? Do they reach the masses or are they just made for the sake of the numerous advertising awards? All this in my next post.