Cadbury brings back 'Kuch Khaas Hai' tune in tribute to frontline workers

This is the second time since the lockdown began that Cadbury has reimagined the classic tune in its advertising.

Doctors, nurses, physicians… These are some of the frontline workers who are helping the human race battle the Coronavirus pandemic. But these frontline workers are also dependent on others to keep operations running smoothly. The almost invisible, unacknowledged support and ancillary staff at a hospital, who're not directly on the frontline. The canteen cooks, the waiters, the electrician on call, the ambulance driver and his helper, the janitor, the receptionist, the IT guys, the errand boys, even the gardener. So, Cadbury decided to thank them for supporting the frontline workers. The company released a video of its employees distributing the newly released 'Thank You' bars amongst the staff of some key hospitals in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata.

This is the second time, since April, that Mondelez has brought back the tune of a classic Dairy Milk ad – ‘Kuch Khaas Hai’. The first time the tune was brought back was in the context of an ad that reminded people to stay strong, despite lockdown. At a time when milestone birthdays and anniversaries are celebrated alone, graduation certificates are being handed out virtually, the ad reminds people to look for the ‘khaas’ and celebrate sweet moments virtually.

Commenting on the launch of this digital film, Anil Viswanathan, director – marketing (chocolates), Mondelez India, said, “For more than 70 years now, Cadbury Dairy Milk has been deeply infused in the lives of consumers, and has always been an important part of the smallest of celebrations. However, with the current challenging times, while many feared that the new normal could not present celebratory moments, people have proved otherwise by rejoicing every occasion by adhering to the rules of social distancing. Through this film, we wanted to express our gratitude towards our consumers for inspiring us with their undeterred spirit, and highlight that 'Every Home Tells a Sweet Story'.”

In his book ’30 Second Thrillers’, KV Sridhar, or ‘Pops’ as he’s more popularly known, tells the story of the original concept of the ad, and what Piyush Pandey’s brief was. Pandey wrote the script of the ad on the back of an airplane boarding pass, while traveling with his family to the US. According to him, the brief came to him at a time when the challenge was to change an ingrained belief – that adults didn’t eat chocolates, at least not openly.

When Pops asked Pandey how he tackled the challenge and where the idea of the ad came from, this was Pandey's explanation,

The chapter also mentions that the next ad in this campaign witnessed a montage of ads, wherein during happy moments of life, the adults bring out the kids in themselves. These ads also used the same background tune, which was composed by the musical trio Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy.