Advertisements examples for NGOs
Mumbai: It begins innocuously enough. A game show with one host and two
participants-a man and a small child. Both have disproportionate scores.
While the man has 2089, the child has just 10. The quizzmaster asks a
routine general knowledge question and the man hits the buzzer first with a
smirk. The kid is defeated. Even as the host alludes to the winner, the
voice-over goes, “Pedophiles are smarter than children.”
A startling, in-your-face advertisement. Alarmed at the growing number
of American children who fall prey to pedophiles, the ad seeks consumer’s
help in curtailing it. Though similar statistics are not available for
Indian children, the message does get across.
Screened by the Advertising Club, Bombay, on Tuesday, the advertisement
was one of the award winning entries to Cannes. Other winners from across
the world were also showcased. From the dark world of pedophiles to the
bright take on Bavarian beer, each one had a message. Like the one on Red
Bavaria.
A girl walks out on a man. Wallowing in self-pity, he sits on a park
bench, with a half-eaten burger in his hand, watching a lovey-dovey couple
smooching on the next bench. A straggly dog walks by, drawn to the burger.
The man, disgustedly offers it to the dog and walks away. The stray leaves
the burger and pads along behind the man who suddenly looks at the mutt.
Man discovers his best friend and together, they enjoy a carefree,
ball-chasing life. Until suddenly, the dog, running behind a ball, gets
knocked down by a car. Next shot: “Happiness doesn’t last forever.” The
voice-over goes: “Sixty days on the market then we take it away.” The beer
is not expected to last two months.
The screening had several social messages, like the one from Homstead, a
home for street children. The ad titled ‘Rescue a child from the streets’
talked about the kids living on the streets and how there was a home where
they could find shelter. Exhorting the populace to call in, the organisation
was throwing in a free TV set for every caller. The voice-over noted: “It’s
that easy and we are that desperate”.
Not mincing words, the message was crystal clear. As was the one with an
old lady in an old-age home, obviously suffering from Alzheimer’s. She asks
her nurse to hide her under the bed, because uncle will be coming. The voice
over: “An abused child never forgets” drove the message home.
A Lotto commercial had an old-age home with a strict matron haranguing
every senior citizen. Upset, an old lady called Martha is watching all the
goingson, but can’t do much. Later in the evening, when all are watching
live Lotto on TV, the matron is suddenly called away. Martha happens to bag
the sole winning ticket but quietly leaves it in the matron’s coat pocket.
The next morning has the picky matron quitting her job, on having bagged the
Lotto and the voice-over goes: “Lotto millionaires are not like ordinary
millionaires.”