Santosh Sirur

This is THE best Deepavali ad film I have seen this year, among the many, many ads I have seen in the last few days. Terrific work by Amazon India and Ogilvy. Why is it so good? First, the focus is clearly on the emotion behind the festival. The focus is on the family getting together. But it doesn't happen in a conventional way. It is triggered by one person, through a shared memory. That personal touch, invoking a memory, and through that, love for each other, is the crux in the writing. Second, the brand's role. Any e-commerce brand would be tempted to use as starting point the many offers they have around Deepavali. Selling the point, after all, right? Wrong. There is a space for tactical, functional 'sales' and 'offers' led communication, and there is a separate space for festive advertising that puts the nature of the festival first, the brand incidental. So, Bittu orders for this elder brother and sister, the most ordinary, non-Deepavali item through Amazon! But, to the characters inside the ad, it holds tremendous value fully in context of Deepavali. That's excellent thought in the writing - to frame something so ordinary as an empty bottle (enabled through Amazon) as an item of great significance inside Deepavali. And finally, the way it all comes together. The elder brother and sister do get emotional when they see Bittu, but just a few fleeting seconds. They get back to their character almost immediately, pulling Bittu's leg and being the playful elder siblings they already are. We Indians love melodrama, of course, but the ad doesn't overdo it and the writing keeps the character arcs intact. Loved it! #advertising #marketing #deepavali PS: Don't let anyone tell you that India doesn't have a concept of a Deepavali ad film. We absolutely do, and always have, for quite some time now. No doubt it mirrors the West's Christmas template (homecoming and the joy of being together being the two common elements, with Christmas films pivoting towards giving/joy of giving and Deepavali films pivoting towards light, celebration, eating/sweets, etc.). I watch more than 100 Deepavali films every single year and even did a huge compilation with template notes in 2023: tinyurl.com/deepav2023