#MardonWaalaShampoo: Beardo's new ad asks men to stop using women's products

The two-and-a-half-minute digital ad features actor-comedian Vir Das

Men's grooming brand Beardo recently unveiled a digital campaign. The two-and-a-half-minute ad was created by Beardo’s marketing team, and features actor-comedian Vir Das.

What's interesting about the ad, titled #MardonWaalaShampoo, is that the brand is clearly trying to take a dig at the usual ads put out by male grooming companies. It starts with Das hosting a fake news show. He talks about the hazards of men using women's shampoos on their scalp. Men's hair and scalp are different from that of women, and need a different kind of nourishment, adds Das.

"The ad humorously exposes the duality of male grooming in India. While masculinity is preached and practiced like the law of the land, the narrative completely shifts when it comes to men’s shampoos," reads a Beardo press release.

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The ad has got people laughing. It does seem to take the same route a normal male grooming ad would take, but with more jokes.

“Humour is the one form of advertising that lets you convey the most controversial of messages," Sujot Malhotra, CEO, Beardo, said in the release.

"We wanted to sensitise men that they have been using female-oriented shampoos for years. While historically one of the biggest challenges for men has been that there aren’t enough products in the market that are specifically designed for them, more so in the shampoo segment, but as a brand, we exist to change that."

The ad is built around this messaging: "men's scalp is thicker than women's scalp". It says that while women's products have more fragrance, men's shampoos need to be strong. Typically, men's shampoo ads have also illustrated the same point.