Mentos makes a monkey of Darwin’s theory

Mentos offers an intriguing diversion to the theory of evolution. According to its new TVC, the donkey ruled over the monkey till the monkey ate a Mentos and evolved into a man

Had Mentos been around when he was alive, Darwin would have realised he was wasting his time propounding his theory on the evolution of man. Or so says the latest Perfetti Van Melle ad, which implies that it was Mentos that triggered the evolution of humankind from monkey to man.

Mentos continues enlightening consumers with its ‘Dimaag ki Batti Jala De’ tagline. The television commercial (TVC), which began to be aired recently, starts with a donkey on a wooden plank and a monkey (obviously its slave) pulling the donkey along. While resting on the journey, the monkey spots a Mentos mint on the ground. He asks the donkey, whom he calls Daddu. Daddu makes a dismissive gesture and the monkey pops the mint into his mouth.

No sooner than he eats it, realisation dawns upon the monkey and he sets out on his own. During his travels, the monkey learns to make weapons, hunt, stitch hides into garments, make fire and finally create a wheel. Life has come full circle and the monkey has become man. All this while Daddu was lounging on the plank. Man and Daddu meet again, but now their fortunes have reversed. Daddu is now pulling man, while man relaxes on a wheeled cart. The TVC is in the form of an animated film.
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O&M is the creative agency responsible for the TVC. Jignesh Maniar, creative director at O&M, says it was a tough call on whether they wanted to continue with the Mentos Zindagi idea or take on a new perspective. Maniar says the thought behind the commercial is that “the monkey becomes conscious that he needs to be a man when he pops the mint into his mouth. That’s how the Dimaag ki Batti Jala De thought comes in.”

Moving away from the brand’s regular wisecrack ideas and taking the animated path was a bit of a challenge, says Maniar.

Sameer Suneja, chief executive officer, Perfetti Van Melle, says, “Our target is the youth and college going crowd which relates to Mentos coming up with cool things and this TVC is just that.”

The film was shot by Frameworks, a visual effects and animation studio in Singapore. The characters were defined and directed by Rajesh Krishnan of Soda Films. The expressions and voices of the characters were done by Soda Films. The voice of Daddu is quite clearly that of a well known Hindi film actor.

Though not an inspiration, as Maniar is quick to clarify, the TVC with its depiction of evolution with fast background music reminds you of Fat Boy Slim’s video, Right Here Right Now.

Perfetti Van Melle will take the campaign forward to the digital medium as well. “It will not be about the monkey, but it will stick to the Dimaag ki Batti Jala De idea,” confirms Suneja. How exactly the Internet will be employed is yet to be decided. Print and radio will also be used.