Airtel's Ritu Ad

This ad features a nerdy boy atop some kind of roof, where I suppose a bunch of college students are busy preparing for their college festival. The boy narrates how he can do "anything for friendship." Particularly the friendship of a very pretty and popular, and apparently quirky girl named Ritu (the girl in pink dancing in the background).

He goes on to say how he makes a mix of sweets that are very particular to her tastes, something that only he knows. The ad is for Airtel's My Offer campaign, which offers a perfect tailor made mix of offers into a custom plan. The ad then ends with him waving to his "friend."

If you haven't seen it, you must see it here first.

I am deeply conflicted about this ad. Without a doubt, I hate the characters. And although this is supposed to be a semi-professional blog, I shall rant about them later. But, it has a good metaphor. Let's pick this ad apart then.

Good:

• Airtel is hitting the target group- youth, college students, and the like- very hard with this whole "Har ek friend" thing. And here is another one, where they have compared a tailor made plan to a girl's very odd taste in sweets, which the boy makes for her much to the bemusement of the mithai shop owner. The situation is one that youth can relate to, whether they want to admit it or not. How many nerdy boys out there felt affronted, only because they have themselves acted so stupidly to try and win the attention of a girl that's way out of their league? The communication is on a whole, very relevant to the product and campaign, and is relatable. Though no one will admit it.
• I find the expressions of the boy spot on. They are really good, regardless of what he is saying. Even the expression on the face of the mithai shop owner when the boy says "give me 200gm of this" is priceless. Good casting.
• Like I said before, it's a good comparison they have done (the plan and the mithai mix).

Bad:

• This ad is mostly met with utter anger and derision. Most (probably all) of which is directed at the characters. And let me be honest, I hate them too. The boy is an annoying, delusional idiot (to use nice terms), and I feel like hurting him. He is a goddamn fool to be wasting his time chasing a girl whose boyfriend probably bench presses more than his body weight. The characterization of Ritu also will not garner many fans, I'm afraid. Who likes such an uppity, high maintenance girl? Do you see what happened there... I have no reason to believe she is uppity, but I automatically attributed those adjectives to her. And I don't want to use the words I'm really thinking here in this blog. But it just brings to mind all those rich, pretty girls with massive princess complexes who know they are rich and pretty and can walk all over everyone. And those most vociferous in their hatred of this ad are inevitably male. And we have a point... the boy is a horrible representation of guys (even if it's not a completely impossible one). Perhaps you should go through some of the comments in the above youtube link for a more accurate description of my feelings. These are, however, strictly personal feelings. If you wanted to really use the product, I don't think this ad would deter you, nor should it.
• And the above is actually the only bad point of the ad. Everything else works perfectly fine. It's just that  I want to kick the crap out of the boy. And Ritu. What a bitch.

The agency is, of course, Taproot, who has struck gold with the whole "Har ek friend" campaign. Airtel has always had some great ads, and they are taking the youth sector by storm (following the footsteps of Virgin Mobile?).