These and other memorable taglines reverberate in our ears and, for a bit, we relive the past. From the advertisements’ perspective, that past was sparkling, a time when India’s top brands were nurtured by campaigns that turned them into popular icons, creating marketing legends and lessons for India and the world at large.

(Note: Similar to our recent listings on iconic brands, this line-up of classic advertisements is not exhaustive, only illustrative. We shall add more to this list in future compilations.)

Amul Butter Girl Still Reigns

The brand Amul, the guiding light of India's White Revolution was launched through a promotional blitzkrieg that sometimes went even against the directions of founder Dr Verghese Kurien himself. Anand Cooperative re-invigorated 15 million farmers and revolutionized India’s dairy sector. It also gave us the Amul butter girl – her lovely locks and polka-dotted skirt were overshadowed only by wisdom beyond her years, and she made an entire nation sit up and take notice for half a century. She still does.

Political, social and economic issues have all come off this girl’s slate. 'Hum bhookh mita sakte hain, pyaaz nahin' (We can get rid of hunger, not onions) at the height of the onion crisis; “Let ‘C’onfused ‘I’nternational ‘A’uthors eat their words” (when the CIA accused Morarji Desai of corruption); “Income Attax” in 2010, when taxpayers received erroneous notices from the I-T department; “Agni and ecstasy”, on the test firing of the Agni-II missile…

Over the years, the Amul story has found its way into marketing lesson plans of some of India's and the world's top business schools. 

The Butter Girl’s campaign was one-of-its-kind, with its theme and style unchanged for 50 years, splashed on 4,000 hoardings across the country. Other product lines have been added and newer ad campaigns (like ‘Amul Doodh Peeta Hai India’) came in to push visibility, which together saw the company skyrocket to be among the biggest and most recognized brands in the world. But Amul’s butter girl remains very, very special.

Wah! Sip Of Taj Amid ‘Tabla’ Beats

Never have music and a hot cuppa looked so perfect in unison as they did in the Taj Mahal Tea ad campaign. Strapping ‘tabla’ maestro Zakir Hussain and child prodigy Aditya Kalyanpur had a musical standoff in one of the avatars of this blitz, which ended with the immortal line, ‘Wah Taj’! Kalyanpur, all of 8 years of age then, recalls that the ad helped propel Indian classical music to millions. It sold truckloads of tea as well.

Through this ad and Hussain’s charisma and persona, the humble Indian ‘tabla’ got a global following, while Kalyanpur’s cherubic smile won hearts and saw Taj Tea become a household name. So successful was the campaign that ‘Wah Taj’ became a moniker for an aromatic cup of tea, with Hussain and Kalyanpur leading the hustings. Soliloquy: Kalyanpur now runs the New England School of Music in Boston, teaching traditional Indian art forms.

Taj Mahal Tea has evolved with the times and the ‘Wah Taj!’ campaign now has the ‘Megh Santoor’ embellishing its ads, all 31 strings and handles on display. Musician Taufiq Qureshi renders strains of raag ‘Megh Malhar’ in one ad, while a rain-activated billboard sends out a gut sock for tea-power in another, showing that cutting-edge technology and age-old tea blends can go hand in hand.

Hamara Bajaj & A Bachcha’s Chhota Tale

Two campaigns for scooters and bulbs did more for Bajaj than anything else could – they helped the products fly off shelves, sure, but they also struck an emotive chord with the average Indian. Those were days when aspirations were meek, with electric-powered lights at home and a two-wheeler to whiz around was the epitome of indulgence for most.

Hamara Bajaj translated to a three-four-geared scooter, a Priya or Chetak, while the 'Chhota Bachcha' script saw a boy turn into a young man and then prance into old age, all while the bulb in his room kept glowing. If we juxtapose the two ads, the boy read comic books hiding in a quilt, rode on a Bajaj scooter with the love of his life when young, and finally trundled around his home in the bright sundown of his life, thanks to the Bajaj bulb.

The campaigns were focussed on sparking Indian-ness, tailored to move the target customer away from the functional and towards the emotional. The only person with the authority to sign off on such breakaway ideas was Rahul Bajaj himself, who did so without batting an eyelid. That’s how ‘Buland Bharat Ki Buland Tasveer, Hamara Bajaj’ was born. Today, the tagline is gone, but the anthem of Indian-ness continues to outlive the ad many times over.

Fevicol: Sticking Up A New India

It was leading ad agency O&M that helped change the way India glues things together. ‘Fevicol Ka Mazboot Jod Hai, Tootega Nahin!’(Fevicol's strength, will not brook breakages), the campaign screamed. Hordes of people were propped atop swaying, rickety buses in the deserts of Rajasthan; people from warring sides were strummed up together; unwary warring parties dipped fingers into the glue; even a poor little hen had a lick before laying eggs. All stayed stuck without falling apart. The little egg didn’t break, but a record-breaking sales omelette was made by Fevicol.

True to Indian tradition, two elephants were bonded with the Fevicol solution and had the rising sun in the background, symbolizing freshness and success. Of course, the ad was a glowing referendum to the other famous tagline: ‘Fevicol Lagaiye, Kuchh Bhi Chipkaiye’ (Use Fevicol, glue up anything). At the end of the day, the campaign had lived true to its original intent – strengthening brands Fevicol and Pidilite, educating customers, increasing product awareness; and forging an emotional connect.

If you look at all the above four examples of great brand promotion, all have a common quotient and denominator running through them – emotion.

Ads That Had Both Bluster And Heart

After the ads that showed raw emotion see-sawing to the hypno-depressing rhythm of violins and shehnai, let’s throw in the saxophone and some drums, marking the entry of our very own James Bond – the protagonist in the 007-ish Bombay Dyeing campaign. Sculpted looks sat atop a chiseled body in this ad campaign that completely broke away from India’s Bharat Bhushan scheme of things.

As hysterical women watched fascinated on their brand-new colour TVs, the protagonist pulled out guns and got into high-speed car chases just for the heck of it. Few know that the ads were initially anchored by Ardhendu Bose, nephew of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. The baton was passed on to Karan Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor’s son. Many believe this to be India’s first television ad. They would be wrong, for that accolade belongs to a Gwalior Suitings’ ad released in 1976.

My Days In Gabardine Bell-bottoms

One could go on forever on this subject, especially as it takes one back to the days of wearing gabardine bell bottoms and spaniel-collared shirts. We then had Nirma, whose jingle (‘Washing Powder Nirma, Washing Powder Nirma, Doodh Si Safedi, Nirma Se Aayi’) has been a household hummingbird for four decades now. It didn’t matter what language you spoke, for the magic of a simple girl in a white frock humming the jingle is still very much here – on our TVs and in our fondest memories.

Some others that spring to mind are Surf Excel, with the ‘Daag Achche Hain’  (Stains Are Good) campaign we spoke of recently, touching upon themes such as harmony and waking up our inner child. Or Mountain Dew, which says ‘Dar Ke Aage Jit Hai’(Victory After Fear), exhorting us to embrace our fears, for victory is just ahead. What the ad doesn’t do to awaken our manliness is taken care of by a sprightly Hrithik Roshan, who does a hoopla and more on his motorcycle.

Can you forget Mugli Ghutti? Or I love you, Rasna? And Vicco Vajradanti Ayurvedic cream? No way, and primarily because the three are still very much here.

A few are gone, though, like Binaca Geet Mala, where Ameen Sayani’s raspy and guttural baritone made us croon and gyrate like nothing else could. Another one gone to history is Pan Parag, which saw Shammi Kapoor wagging his finger at anything close to dowry, well before Vimal Pan Masala used Shahrukh Khan, Ajay Devgan and Akshay Kumar to kill the pearl. 

The jury, meanwhile, is still not out on MDH and Everest, waiting to see what the ban on some of their product lines in a few countries means in the longer run and larger scheme of things.

Giving Credit Where It's Due

Taking no credit away from anyone, we must remember that when these ads were first aired, anyone watching TV watched everything with intent, even ads. TV was aired for just 3-4 hours per day on one single channel, making every minute a miracle. And just like ads, we were evolving too. Emotions ran deep, especially when anything even half-national was thrown our way. It brought out the Indian in us. Amul was India. Bajaj was India. Surf was India. Fevicol was India. Mugli Ghutti 555 was India. They still are, and we are proud of that.