The bold TVC has generated extreme reactions both amongst the ad fraternity as well as viewers.

The ASCI has even received a complaint terming the commercial indecent Amul Macho TVC Crafted for Fantasies was in for a reality check. The commercial, created by the Pushpinder Singh-owned Saints & Warriors, first hit television screens in the first week of April, and has raised quite a few eyebrows since then. One of the most controversial adverts in the India is Amul Machos Ye to bada toing hainn!!! "Ye to bada toing hai" has catapulted brand Amul Macho to the top. Yes, to the top of the list of the most vulgar and sexually explicit ads that has come out since TV ads began hogging viewing time in living rooms. The ad had a new bride coming to 'ghat' for washing clothes where she is being critically examined by elderly neighborhood women. Regardless of their stares, the woman opens up her bundle of clothes and pulls out the first garment Amul Macho underwear belonging to her husband. She then starts brushing it, and through her expressions, it is clear that she fancies that the man is still wearing it. The camera actions suggest that she is doing something really naughty! Then the camera moves again. She picks up the bat, to do the laundry as if she about to do a really nasty thing (more so, because it is in public). The women surrounding her are also taken in by her fantasy, so much so that when she raises a bat-like object (used to thrash the dirt out of clothes), the women actually wince at the thought of the man being thrashed like that. The ad ends with the young woman stretching the underwear in her hands, while the super and voiceover conclude, Amul Macho. Crafted for Fantasies. The naughty grin on her face marks the end of the advert. Most people, apart from being amused, want to know what toing is. And most people also seem to agree it could be the sound an elastic band makes when stretched fully and released suddenly, it can be argued, for arguments sake, that such a sound would most probably sound as twang and not toing.15 crores for aggressive brand marketing, and guess who won the Amul Macho account? Well, it was Saints & Warriors and there seems to be nothing saintly about their ads. They came "armed with ideas to make the communication for the brand clutter-breaking." Well, they didnt break any clutter, and instead, added to it in their big toing way. I get this gut feeling that Saints & Warriors had packed much more in their sick fantasies than the mere sound of an elastic band. If you look up the expression toing and froing it actually means physical to and fro movement a convenient and sexually suggestive expression to draw from.

The punchline, "Amul macho Crafted for Fantasies" punches you at the very place you wouldnt want to mention in public. That brings me to the million-dollar question, what sort of people would go out and buy Amul Macho after watching the ad? People assumed that nobody will buy this cheap substitute for a sexual romp because, but as per the companys figures, sales were increasing. The company clocked a turnover of Rs 201 crore in 2007-08. The company then planned to up its production from 350,000 pieces per day to 500,000 for the next year. The advert was banned by Advertising council due to violation of the rules. Since then the market share of the company is rising. So much so that the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) received a complaint after a week when the advertisement was aired , which terms the ad indecent and obscene. If the complaint is upheld, then the ad violates Chapter 2 of the ASCI code. To cite the code, it is important to ensure that advertisements are not offensive to generally accepted standards of public decency. Advertisements should contain nothing indecent, vulgar or repulsive which is likely, in the light of generally prevailing standards of decency and propriety, to cause grave or widespread offence. The ASCI has sent a letter to the advertiser about the complaint, after which 15 days will be given to the party to revert to us with their explanations, says the ASCI secretariat. Following that, the matter will be put before the ASCI committee, which will then come to a consensus on what action should be taken. The recommendation will then be sent to the concerned parties. For the record, Saints & Warriors won the Amul Macho account about five months ago, armed with ideas to make the communication for the brand clutter-breaking. To make matters worse, the company admitted that its target group is UP and Bihar! Explains Pushpinder Singh, founder, Saints & Warriors, The temptation to be mediocre and obvious is always there in underwear advertising. Its very easy to show skimpily clad women or have shots of men wearing innerwear. But we chose to be clutter breaking. What Saints & Warriors attempted to do, he says, is to make the underwear a surrogate for male sexuality. I think the ad is naughty, not vulgar, he clarifies, but people are free to believe what they think. Furthermore, he says that, in general, people find underwear ads offensive, so perhaps this case is no different. In a recent poll conducted by CNBC-TV18, 49 per cent of those who

participated felt that the ad was enjoyable and not obscene, while the rest felt it was vulgar. But Singh, or Pushpi as he is referred to, is nonchalant. Around 5,000 people took part in that poll, so 49 per cent virtually an equal amount of people is a large segment for us, who understood and appreciated the thought behind the ad, he says. Commenting on the whole issue, Sandeep Sakseria, director, Amul Innerwear, adds that the commercial has already won a bronze at the recently concluded Calcutta Ad Club awards. If the eminent jury finds the ad worthy of an award, Im sure the ad isnt offensive in any way, Sakseria says. On the question of the ad being derogatory to women, Sakseria is candid: If men can fantasise about women, why cant women do the same? Furthermore, he claims that sales have grown by 35 per cent since the release of the commercial. For the record, the ad has obtained censor board approval to be screened in cinema halls across India, and will soon be seen on the silver screen as well. But if the ASCI directive demands the ad be withdrawn or modified, a fantasy will be shattered for the executives at Amul Macho. India and Indian Ads are a total enigma. Prudish Indian courts can admit petitions for Richard Gere kissing Shilpa Shetty in public but this ad for Amul Macho Underwear which is so crafty and sexy gets through.

No it is not obscene!!- Yeh to bada toing hai After reviewing the complaint and evaluating options, ASCIs Consumer Complaint Cell (CCC) gave the ad the go-ahead. A letter from ASCI to Amul Macho executives and the agency on the account, Saints & Warriors, said, As per their (CCCs) decision, the complaint has not been upheld. The CCC concluded that the advertisement was not so obscene as to give rise to grave or widespread offence. Pushpinder Singh aka Pushpi, the founder of Saints & Warriors and the man behind the idea, is had their last laugh. Even when the ASCI issue cropped up, we were quite certain that a fair decision would be taken, he stated. His conviction stemmed from his belief that the ad had been received well, proof of which lay in steadily increasing sales for the brand since the release of the ad. People wouldnt have bought the product if the ad was vulgar in any way, he asserts. Further, the ad evoked extreme reactions on a poll conducted by a show on CNBC-

TV18. The ad did its job, deduces Pushpi. The ad was then likely to be aired for another month. A good , clean and bold decision. Amul Macho shifts from "Yeh to bada toing hai" to "Bade Aaram Se" Out go the orangutans, in comes Saif Ali Khan. In a bid to up the imagery and perception of the brand, and make it a leader in the category, Amul Macho then signed the Bollywood actor as its brand ambassador and released a new TVC with him in it. The communication also showcases the shift in the positioning from the brand's old line "Yeh tho bada 'toing' hai" to "Bade aaram se". The new ad begins with Khan confronting a gang of criminals. However, he doesn't have to physically hit them to come out on top of the situation; the mere uttering of the words works. So with one man, Khan says, "I busted your eye" and the man gets punched in the face; with another, he says, "I broke your arm" and the man's arm dramatically falls off, but Khan corrects himself saying, "No, the other one", causing his opponent to lose the other one as well. After he gets rid of the last man, who goes sailing through the air and lands in a coffin after Khan says the words to that effect, the only one left is the moll, who instantly switches her affections to him. Khan then says, "Amul Macho. Bade Aaram Se." While every innerwear brand has a rugged, macho image, Amul Macho wanted a nice, cool, fun persona. Saif is effortlessly charming, and he and the positioning of 'Bade aaram se' lend themselves easily to the Amul Macho guy, who can do anything effortlessly and comfortably. Hence they tried to shift from ye toh bada toing hai a sexual image to Bade aaram se an effortless and comfortable image. A response from Sandeep Sakseria, executive director at Amul Macho, said, "The objective of the new campaign for Amul Macho was to take the brand to the next level in terms of imagery and perception and establish its position as the leader in the category. The brand ambassador Saif Ali Khan has an upmarket image and hence went well with our objective. At the same time, we should not be compromising on the mass appeal of the brand. It is important that the current set of consumers feel connected with the brand. The brand personality is of a man who is macho in his acts, little flirtatious in his behavior and carries a good sense of humour. There is to be a conscious attempt to maintain continuity in the brand personality."

He also went on to say that changing the caption and idea from 'Yeh toh bada toing hai' to 'Bade aaram se' was a tough call but was needed. "In terms of ideation and plot, 'Bade aaram se' is different from 'Yeh toh bada toing hai', but if looked at the picture as a whole, it carries on from where previous campaign series had left. In 'Yeh toh bada toing hai', we wanted to communicate that the brand has something which sets it apart from others. It was like a direct reference to the 'differentiating quality'. Here we are showing how the "Amul Macho" guy handles difficult situations with surprising ease. So it is like putting that 'differentiating quality' of Amul Macho into real life scenarios," he explained. Now though the controversial commercial was cleared by the Advertising Standards Councils of India (ASCI) on the complaints of being indecent and obscene, there are many who still feel such advertisements would only encourage others to follow the same path. On a personal front, I think the Amul Macho commercial is quite amusing and it plays with ones own sensibilities. Agreed, it borders on a fine line between humor and crude humor but after the shit that gets thrown our way, thanks to the Hindi Film Industry and to some extent certain television shows, I think Crafted for Fantasies is quite bearable. Well if see the ethical side of it, the commercial is cheap, portrays women in a lusty manner and is no-way suited to be aired during prime-time television viewing. Which I also agree to, to a certain extent, I mean just the other day my 6 years old nephew went around the house asking Yeh toing toing kya hai? clearly my family members werent too impressed. But I guess thats what the basic aim is behind all product promotion activities Brand Recollection, be it the good way or the crude way. And the guys at Saints & Warriors (ad agency) did exactly that for their clients. Another thing that I found a little comical is in their letter to Amul Macho executives and the agency on the account; ASCI said As per their (CCC) decision, the complaint has not been upheld. The CCC concluded that the advertisement was not so obscene as to give rise to grave or widespread offence. Now how can one count how vulgar or obscene an ad is!