The West Indies Mauka

In the latest edition of Star Sports' 'Mauka' films, the channel is asking whether West Indies can do what Pakistan, South Africa and UAE could not.

Frustration is not an easy thing to handle and the same can be seen on the faces of the characters from the #MaukaMauka series, all of whom are dejected with their countries (Pakistan, South Africa and UAE) losing to India in the World Cup. There is still a glimmer of hope as West Indies plays against India on March 6, which also marks the festival of Holi.

Bundling all these insights together, Bubblewrap, the production house that created these films, has come up with the latest 'Mauka' TVC for the forthcoming bout.

The scene is set in a house where three fans wearing UAE jerseys are disheartened after their team loses to India in a rather one-sided game. Irritated, one of them chants 'Ghanta Mauka' ('no chance' in English), acknowledging the might of the Indian team and expressing dissatisfaction at the result, while helplessly breaking the crackers for the third time. At that point, one of the fans removes his jersey and answers the doorbell to see a courier boy with a YEPME branded box of West Indies jerseys, which restores their hopes of seeing India lose in the World Cup 2015. A second later, the doorbell rings again, and this time the courier boy hands over a box full of Holi colours, saying that West Indies will lose and since they will not be able to burn crackers yet again, they could play Holi instead.

The promo is fourth in the Star Sports #MaukaMauka series which has fetched over a million views in four days of its launch. Together, the four promos have fetched Star Sports over 6.5 million views.

The Indian team is on a roll, and after crushing South Africa, Pakistan and UAE, fans are expecting a fourth win.

For the record, the first promo under this campaign was for the India-Pakistan match, where it was highlighted that India had defeated Pakistan on their last five encounters in the World Cup, while the second promo was for the India-South Africa match to which the Indian team had lost on the last three occasions. The third was for the match against UAE. The creative in the end says - World Vs India.

Industry Speak

Khalid Khatri, creative director, Infectious, says, "The visual device of 'fire crackers' and the audio refrain of 'Mauka' really worked for the campaign. I found the first two spots to be quite entertaining. Every cricket crazy Indian knows the word 'Mauka' by now, so the campaign has done wonders for the brand. It's losing a little steam now. Should try something more interesting."

While Amarpreet Singh, head, planner, Crayons Advertising, says, "Let me start by acknowledging the fact that the best ad campaign series running on WC 2015 wasn't developed by an ad agency. Star sports and Bubblewrap Films have won the Advertising World Cup already. #MaukaMauka series is a hit. Now, during this India-UAE match, I was more interested in the next ad than the match itself. But, frankly, it falls flat on its face. The ad is surprisingly weak and does not intrigue its viewers unlike its predecessors. Maybe because the series has raised our expectations so high that this one feels vanilla. What was more surprising was the random brand placement of Yepme.com! Moreover, this one in particular doesn't weave in a strong emotional connect - it just leaves you awed."

"The South Africa 'challenge' spot, released right after India's thumping victory over Pakistan, was quite brilliant, as it deflated an exuberant nation's ego and made people think of the next match. So, that could have spurred more people to watch the game," adds Khatri.

Singh points out that despite this promo being a notch below, we just can't ignore the fact that the entire series has captured the nation's eye balls, and the fact that social media was exploding with comments on this new TVC the moment it was aired, proves that the ad had a tremendous talking value. "What is interesting is that how will the channel continue mesmerising its viewers and gluing them onto the screens! They must be refreshingly surprising!," adds Singh.

Khatri feels the ads are getting repetitive, while Singh thinks they could soon. "If the surprise quotient is low then it might get mundane and repetitive. But, as of now, it is one of the most trending topics on the digital platform," adds Singh.

Post India-West Indies, the defending champions will clash with Ireland (March 10) and Zimbawe (March 14) in the league matches.