After watching second and third Mobilink’s TV commercial in a row, i thought things had started to improve but then i happened to come across this poll published by ProPakistani which shown that 312 voters out of 621 didn’t like the first Ali Zafar’s humour based TV ad, 197 called it average and 112 people said it was awesome.
It starts from three recently aired TV commercials of Mobilink starring singer/actor Ali Zafar who appears to be teaching his students about call packages using mathematics, physics and geography.
It’s a different idea and as far as i remember no cellular operator has experimented with this kind of plot before. The Jazz 6 minutes offer ad is seemingly a class room of a university where music is being played and suddenly the teacher comes in, he stops that tape recorder and asks the students a very basic question. What is 3+0? The true answer turn out to be 6. Certainly, it is a way of communicating the offer that 3 minutes are free after consuming 3 minutes but keeping this thing aside, the execution is questionable.
I know Mobilink for its tremendous efforts to promote education in Pakistan and we have always been highlighting their steps but this time their commercial message contradicts with their social endeavors.
I am not sure, whether creators would agree with me or not but the rule of thumb is, our society, especially kids follow what they see on TV no matter what is the motive behind it. And in this case, even for the sack of humour or perhaps by mistake, the maker has ignored that very aspect.
Not only the message is not right but also the a level of confusion can be observed in the story line.
The teacher himself disagrees with the first correct answer and accepts a totally wrong reply from a student who was mentally absent. In the mean time, another student gets inspired by the idea and tries to take advantage of the situation by asking the teacher ‘if 3 holidays meant 6 now’? which teacher (Ali Zafar) brushes aside.
Overall, the offer is good which is giving 3 minutes on any network but i believe someone forgot to match its strength with an equally solid execution.
The second TVC shows a physics teacher who advises students to be cautious about fake offers that mobile operators float in the market. The tag line is about ‘Choona Lagana’ which is a straight message indeed but again the humour part was missing.
However the concept of the third TVC is enjoyable and the message is very clear. But talking about humour…it was not as powerful as expected. Something better could have been done.
Ahsan Rahim is the man who has Directed all three TVCs. He is considered to be a better director when it comes to introducing comedy. For those who do not know, he is the man behind the hilarious Ufone TVCs which have amused viewers across the country over the last few years. What was the reason that led a renowned director to come up with a very ordinary execution. Could it be that the client wished for it to look like this? or does the humour Ahsan usually portrays in Ufone TVC’s come from someone who wasn’t part of the execution of the Mobilink TVC’s?
agreed wid raheem….it is also because the ad agencies prefer someones qualification rather than the passion.
Advertising in Pakistan has never been of high standards just because the makers of tv ads do not have sense of creation and they just try to make the client happy. The client also doesnot pay attention to things that are worth doing. The scene will remain the same unless creative people are welcomes and appreciated