Mondelez India recreates Cadbury Dairy Milk's 'Kuch Khaas Hai' ad with a twist

Remember the ad with the girl dancing on the cricket pitch when her boyfriend hits a six? The new ad swaps their roles.

The year 1994 introduced India to Cadbury Dairy Milk’s iconic campaign ‘Asli Swad Zindagi ka’. The advertisement, remembered fondly till date, not only changed the perception of chocolates of India but it also broke away from the stereotypical image towards adulting.

Bringing back nostalgia, but with a contemporary take, Cadbury Dairy Milk today released a refreshed version of the campaign recognising the idea of ‘Waqt Badla Hain, Zindagi Ka Swaad Nahin”, part of the brand’s current generosity narrative of ‘Kuch Achha Ho Jaaye, Kuch Meetha Ho Jaaye’.

The film conceptualized by Ogilvy India, for Mondelez India, shows a young woman cricketer scoring a winning run and her male friend running towards the field dancing with an unabashed glee, celebrating her smashing performance, as the crowd cheers on. The film ends with the powerful message of #GoodLuckGirls in recognition of today’s equal world where women are breaking barriers and pursuing all their dreams.

Commenting on the campaign, Anil Viswanathan, senior director – Marketing, Mondelez India, said, “From acing in the corporate world to winning Olympic medals, women are at the forefront of creating new milestones, every single day and our film is an ode to each one of them. As a brand that has always promoted gender inclusivity, contemporizing an iconic campaign is our way of recognizing the changing times and extending support to all the women trailblazers. An extension of our ongoing generosity narrative, the film also lands the message of how taking small yet significant steps to acknowledge the achievements of women would make the world a better place.”.

Piyush Pandey, Chairman of Global Creative & Executive Chairman, India, said, “It needed a brave client back in 1994 to go ahead with the original Cadbury Cricket film that became so popular. It needed an even braver client to attempt something with an iconic film and make magic out of it. I am delighted that the team at Mondelez India and at Ogilvy India has done this magic, made it relevant, exciting, and so Cadbury, in its bold and front foot fashion.” Here's the ad below.

Sukesh Nayak, Harshad Rajadhyaksha and Kainaz Karmakar, Chief Creative Officers, Ogilvy India, added, “The excitement and the stress in our heads were competing with each other. To recreate such a big hit is like setting yourself up for a million opinions. The only reason we went ahead was it felt right, and it felt awesome. We loved the idea from our gut. Luckily, so did the client. Hats off to the all girls’ team who thought of it and hats off to Bob from Good Morning Films for making it so well.”

Mondelez also brought back the tune of a classic Dairy Milk ad – ‘Kuch Khaas Hai’ in two ads last year. 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.

Cadbury also used the tune in an ad to thank the staff who are responsible 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.