Happydent White: Reaching for the Moon

McCann Erickson plays with the Moon to introduce the Happydent White flip package. Interestingly, the Moon has a South Indian accent.

A few years ago, McCann Erickson's commercial for Perfetti's chewing gum, Happydent, became a talking point amongst consumers, as well as the advertising fraternity. Moving beyond the thematic campaign, the brand promotes the Happydent White flip package in its new television commercial (TVC).

The TVC opens with the voices of a couple of young boys and girls late in the night. One boy holds a Happydent White flip-top pack towards the sky and says, "Let's have fun with the Moon." As he opens the pack, the moon appears, only to disappear as he closes the flip-top. His friend asks for the pack and repeats the exercise, making the moon re-appear. However, this time, it can be seen yawning and the moment it spots the friends, it tells them that instead of switching the pack on and off frequently, they should choose to either keep it open or closed. On hearing this, the girl shuts the lid of the pack. The TVC ends with the tagline, 'Happydent - Light ka naya switch'.

Speaking on the concept, Prasoon Joshi, executive chairperson, McCann Worldgroup India and regional creative director, McCann Asia Pacific, says, "The new campaign has been created keeping the introduction of the flip package in mind. This new TVC is different from the thematic campaign. The entire focus here is on the pack, as a market research result showed that there is a lack of awareness about the pack amongst consumers."

Apart from Joshi, the creative team at McCann Erickson includes Varun Katyal and Azaz ul Haq. Vineet Mahajan is the art director.

The Moon effect

Rahul Jauhari, national creative director, Pickle Lintas likes the new TVC. He explains, "It's focussed, entertaining and tight. It's a tactical film. It breaks clutter and gets the message across quickly. And yes, I liked 'Light ka naya switch'."

Budi Dwisantara Sutisna aka Didi, executive director, planning, JWT, says, "As a 'firang' I'm aware of the award winning ad for Happydent done a couple of years ago. That ad did two things - it demonstrated the product benefit beautifully, and was executed through such an interesting story that it made people, not just ad men, want to talk about it."

Adds Didi, "The latest ad lacks both things. If there was an idea, I think it was stripped down in such a way that left me wondering where it actually was. The new flip pack is the manufacturer's reason for the agency to create an idea around it, not the idea itself. And yes, it is fair to compare both ads because nobody out there looks at your work as 'brand' versus 'tactical'. As a brand, you do great stuff or you don't. Simple. It is only the good stuff people want to talk about, share and watch over and over again."