From the young ones in our family to the ones who are enjoying their old age, there would be not one person who has not seen an advertisement. Be it the famous actors an ad has, the unique story that it shows, or even the jingle, like 'Utterly Butterly Delicious, Amul!', viewers find it interesting and catchy. This is what in turn pushes the consumer to buy products of several brands. What we have to understand is that advertisements play a major role in the marketing of a brand. The advertisers are pretty clever and cunning in a way that they play with human emotions so as to catch the attention of the viewers. To give a better understanding of what I have been saying, all human beings have five basic instincts that are positive and six basic instincts that are negative. Don't worry! I am not going to bore you guys with just the details, but I will be showing you some videos as well! Let's get to it, shall we?
Although 'positive' is not a word that we like to hear because of the distressing times we are going through, I like keeping a positive vibe and surrounding myself with people who are brimming with positivity. You get where I am going, don't you?
The first positive instinct I would like to show is 'Dharma', which means righteousness. Righteousness can be shown in several different ways. It's a very simple emotion but appears to be pretty complex for many people.
With the tagline 'Daag Acche Hain', Surf Excel has always brought out ads that portray kindness, selflessness, and of course righteousness. This ad that I have shown above, will surely strike the right chords of our hearts. I don't think that I have to say anything more, as the ad speaks for itself. Surf Excel ads are a brilliant example of righteousness.
'Prema', our next instinct is something that all of us have felt even at least once in our lives. In my opinion, I feel that it is one of the easiest instincts to play with, as everybody has felt it or will feel it.
It is safe to say that I am eating Doublemint while I'm writing this. One of the very few mints that I eat, this is my absolute favorite. A very popular ad, it is for the hopeless romantic in you and manages to encapsulate the emotion of love or 'prema' perfectly.
'Let truth prevail all'. Truth or 'Satya' is our next emotion. Being truthful all the time is hard. Sometimes, we feel like lying is the better option. Here, in the ad below, a guy wants to lie to impress the girl he loves. Though that's what the ad is about, it has an underlying meaning as well.
While it's all about the fact that the guy is telling lies on how he got injured, this ad indirectly tries to tell us that the icecream of this particular brand is true and pure. An example of good marketing.
You know what is the first thing that comes into my mind when I hear 'peace'? It's the beach, with its waves rushing to the shore, the wind singing, and the beautiful atmosphere. 'Shanti' is the next instinct.
This TVC by Cycle agarbattis has simply shown the peace God showers upon us. With a simple question "Is God there?", it shows us the peace that an incense stick can give us. For me, this advertisement has definitely shown what peace can be.
And now, the last basic instinct which is positive. 'Ahimsa' or non-violence. Ahimsa is closely associated with Mahatma Gandhi. Here, I have shown an ad that indirectly brings about the idea of non- violence.
Here, our very own Captain Cool, M.S.Dhoni loses his cool when hunger hits him. He takes out his anger on his teammates and starts to become violent. Just in time, his teammate offers him a Snickers and on eating it, he instantly calms down. This is how Snickers has portrayed non-violence.
Moving on to the negative instincts that all humans have, the first one that I'm going to tackle is 'Kama', which means lust, craze, or desire. An emotion that is used just as much as love, lust is mostly used with sex appeal for perfume ads that show women crazily chasing men, after the guy sprays on some of the fragrance or the man lusting after the woman who has just used a fragrant powder. I have used an example similar to that.
In a surprising turn of events, in this TVC, the man is objectified and not the woman. With a tagline of 'Play Dirty', Wildstone has made an ad where women show their craze and desire for the man. I don't think that I'll have to explain further as the handsome Purab Kohli will do it for me.
Anger. 'Krodha'. An emotion that manages to suffice all. Anger varies from person to person. Some people may be short-tempered while others may be calmer than you think.
Well, in this ad for Quickr Nxt, the person selling the car is not that angry. But, these constant prank calls and fake calls are bound to make him angry and lose his mind. Which is why Quikr has come up with a new feature of number privacy. So, no more anger issues to fight!
'Lobha', which also means greed, miserliness, or narrow-mindedness is the third instinct. I have decided to show you the latter meaning of the emotion i.e, narrow-mindedness. Of course, where else would I turn to than fairness cream advertisements?
The Fair and Lovely ads have always been a source of discrimination between fair and dark-skinned girls. In this ad, they have gone on to say so much so that a girl needs to be fair to become a collector and achieve her dreams. I could go on but let me just stop by saying that 'Dark is Beautiful'.
Having delusions or emotional attachment towards people or things are a part of human instincts. Here is where 'Moha' comes into play. Let's see how brands have used this for marketing.
Using a play on words to make the word 'Aamsutra', this ad shows Katrina Kaif desiring the mango. She is attracted to the mango and is waiting for the mango to ripen so as to devour it. Clearly, in this ad, Katrina is living in a world of delusion.
Ego, stubbornness, and pride. Also known as 'Mada', There is no living being in this world that does not have these emotions. Tickling the pride of a person is the perfect way to get to her/him. Nobody likes to hurt their ego. This is what the marketing team brilliantly plays with.
While the ad has cast Deepika Padukone, one of the finest actors of our country, she tells the women that, Lux, a beauty soap, is a matter of pride for us. Using it will make us feel proud of ourselves and fill us with pride. Again, I would like to stress the fact that although a matter of pride, beauty is not everything.
Whew. We've finally reached the final instinct. And, it is nothing other than 'Matsarya'. The constant need to be better than the rest. The competition we have with everyone else. And ourselves as well. This is wonderfully captured in ads that want to say that they are better than their competitors.
Two chefs go all around the country to get food stains on their chef coats. Apparently, just to prove the fact that Ariel is better than the other 'jaana maana' washing powders. We all know who they are talking about here though. See it for yourselves.
So, this is what my article was about. I just wanted to show you, people, the way brand marketing teams use human emotions to promote their products. They take advantage of the various feelings and emotions a person carries around with them and develops it into an ad. To quote Matt Mazzie, "Sell the problem you solve, not the product".
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