When the highRIN tide hit the TIDE....!! (advertising)

Its been only few days that an advertisement actually "Chauka Diya!!" all of us. Debating over it in advertising hallways is one thing; but when one overhears strangers in a public place bonding over a discussion on 'that ad on TV last night' and 'how shocking it was', one knows that the advertising has done its job. As far as my observation is concerned, over a few days one thing that I have noticed is that, this high-voltage TVC is supported by a media plan that included primetime slots across all major GECs and news channels, in an effort to deliver maximum impact over the long weekend.

The ad shows two mothers waiting at a bus stop for their children, who are returning from school. They spot each other's shopping baskets - one woman's basket sports a packet of Rin, while the other has purchased Tide Naturals. The Tide lady looks proudly at her purchase and brags about Tide's 'KHUSHBU AUR SAFEDI BHI' offering (fragrance combined with whiteness). The Rin lady simply smiles.


When the school bus rounds the corner and drops off the two children, the Tide lady's boy is wearing a visibly dull shirt, while behind him emerges a boy clad in a spotless white shirt, who runs past the shocked Tide lady, over to his 'RIN' mother. To make things cheekier, the boy asks his mother, 'Aunty "CHAUNK" kyun gayi?' (Why is aunty so shocked?), where the word "CHAUNK" could easily be a reference to Tide's punch line, "CHAUNK GAYE?"

The voiceover concludes that Rin is 'behtar' or superior to Tide, when it comes to whiteness, and at a 'CHAUNKANE WALA' price of Rs 25, at that. A super, 'Issued in the interest of Rin users', completes the commercial.

Comparative advertising is, quite obviously, not a new phenomenon by any standards. Every other brand has dabbled with it at some point, while it is almost formulaic for some categories. However, to make comparisons with competition involves discretion in execution, such as air-brushing or pixelating a competitor's brand name/pack shot, and most definitely, keeping away from referring to rival brand names.

Soon within the days of the Ad was aired, P&G the manufacturers of TIDE has complained of Foul Play against HUL, the manufacturers of RIN. HUL, which has been asked by advertising watchdog ASCI to respond to complaints of "disparaging" the rival product Tide in its Rin ad, got a boost from an order by Madras High Court directing P&G to modify its Tide ad. It is therefore, P&G moved Calcutta High Court yesterday against HUL for putting out a "disparaging" advertisement against Tide.


Though there is so much is happening on this particular campaign, but the agency who conceptualized the whole ad, that is JWT, is yet to comment on the whole saga. With this ad, however, Rin seems to have broken every rule in the book. But what may seem like a publicity stunt to some, is, in all probability, a well-thought out strategy on the part of Rin's makers, Hindustan Unilever (HUL).

But onething is for sure, that there is a new fight in the biggest soap opera of them all, and I expect some more fireworks in the days to come... ;)