Kiddie Ads

Getting kids to feature in ads in one sure shot way of getting me to pay attention :). And I know I speak for a large majority of the crowd that gets swayed when teensy weensy children come on your screen and endorse so many of those brands out there. There have been very few adverts I haven’t liked featuring kids - and those would usually be the ones that make kids mouth unnatural or precocious lines.

In the recent past, there have been lots of ads that have grabbed attention, and have kids in central roles - such as the “Sorry Bol“, Hutch You and I ad, and Lead India. But my personal favorites are the following:

• One of the earliest kiddie ads that I can never forget - the Dhara ‘Jilebi?’ ad. This kid is yummier than the jilebis in the ad - SO adorable :).

• Awarded, and forwarded all across the internet - the Greenply “Savitri” ad. Simply superb!

• I never knew the name of this bank, till this kid stepped into an ad, and showed me what the right ad can do for brand recognition - the Bank of India ”Piggybank” ad:

• Finally, a childhood ad that I remember so well just because its theme song invokes such nostalgic memories… This is a Lebanese ad for Nido milk powder. This ad didn’t work because of a particular kid - it was just the pout of the child going to school for the first time, and the tears welling up in the mother’s eyes that was enough to tug at heart strings across the world :).

Mmmm. Wonderful, aren’t they all?

Update: Karthick has just posted the new Vodafone Customer Service ad featuring a little girl and yes, the Hutch puppypug! See it here Indian Vodafone Commercial - Happy to Help (Full).