Review Corner

Ad review

Meesho — Humara Mission Sabse Kum Commission

In this ad conceptualised by Wunderman Thompson, Meesho wants to let its prospective resellers and SMBs know that the app charges just one percent commission. A seller is seen boasting about being smart and using the Meesho app instead of other apps where profits are lost to expenses like shipping and packaging. The humour quotient in the 12-second ad takes a hit as six seconds are devoted to narrating the product attributes alone.

Rating: 6/10

Freecharge — Your Pocket Accelerator

A young woman living with her in-laws is unable to find the time to pay her monthly bills as she juggles household chores. The narrator presents her with a solution: to pay bills using Freecharge’s ‘pay later’ option. Even though the concept is hardly fresh and expects viewers to read the features of the app that are listed on screen, the ad manages to deliver its message in 16 seconds.

Rating: 6/10

MPL — Aapka game milega MPL pe

MPL’s latest ad conceptualised by The Womb features actor Dayanand Shetty — best known for portraying the role of inspector Daya in CID — in a manner reminiscent of the Cred ads. MPL forces an association between Shetty’s ‘game’ or love for ‘breaking down doors’, and the app where users can find the game of their liking. Daya tearing apart doors, no matter what the obstacle, does inspire humour, but the contrived connection fails to impress.

Rating: 6/10

Whisper — Whisper Ultra Clean with Herbal Oil

Sanitary napkin brand Whisper finally depicts blood using a red liquid and not a blue one. However, this ad for Whisper Ultra is otherwise unremarkable. A young entrepreneur is seen advocating the use of Whisper Ultra with Herbal Oil because it offers better hygienic protection than other products. It is hard to say if Whisper’s fleeting use of red liquid will even be noticed by lay consumers, given that other digital-first brands have been using it to represent blood for a few years now.

Rating: 5/10

Country Delight — Naturally Acha, Naturally Sacha

The video starts with a spoof on other milk ads for their stereotypical plot — a mother getting her child to befriend milk. Featuring Madhuri Dixit as the mother, this ad, in fact, falls prey to the cliché, and does not do anything significantly contrary to what a dairy brand usually does to reel in consumers. The ad talks about no-contact delivery of milk directly from the farm, and a kit to test for purity. But, its attempt to show viewers the ‘truth’ about Country Delight milk using animation is quite humdrum.

Rating: 4/10