A cricket match in progress. Batsman on 99. A young woman in the audience eating a chocolate. Batsman hits the ball high in the air. Crowd wonders if it will sail over the ropes or land in the hands of the fielder. The chocolate eating girls closes her eyes and prays. Ball is over the ropes. The girl wearing a purple coloured dress gets out of her seat, dodges the security and gets dancing on the field, quite an absurd dance though.
This ad goes down in the history of Indian advertising as one of the best.
Remember – kuch khaas hain hum sabhi mein – The Cadbury’s ad.
The agency which crafted this commercial heard about an incident on the cricket field and converted that into the Cadbury story.
From the annals of cricket history – The Hyderabadi, glamour boy of Indian cricket in the 60s and 70s, was a student at the Oxford when he was called to play for India.
On his debut test in 1959, he became the youngest to score a test hundred and the first Indian to score a hundred on his debut outside India.
Jan 1st – 1960, India vs Australia thirds test at Brabourne Stadium, on the final day, India was struggling to save the match when this Hyderabadi boy takes the team to safety.
He scored a fifty and during tea break while heading towards the pavilion, a young lady jumped over the fence and kissed him on his cheek. It was ‘swinging sixties’ and a sensation in conservative India.
The commentator, Vijay Merchant on radio commentary said – where were these ladies when I was playing cricket.
The kissing incident, was made into painting called The Kissing of Abbas Ali Baig is mentioned in Salman Rushdie’s The Moor’s Last Sigh.
Great stories make great brand advertising!
– The above article was originally authored by Samuel Sudhakar who writes regularly on sports.