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At the height of the football season, a big self-goal this week came from unlikely quarters. Hindustan Unilever’s Vim, the popular dishwashing brand, found itself in a bit of a situation when its seemingly well-intentioned and self-aware campaign for Vim Black, a fictional dishwashing liquid, backfired.
The product – a dishwashing liquid made just for men – came not only in a suave black bottle but also with lessons in sharing domestic duties. Sadly, a lot got lost in translation and the ad campaign was badly received, for the most part.
The ads also earned the unenviable distinction of angering the conservative and liberal factions alike. The former was annoyed by what it perceived as shoehorning of woke beliefs and talking down to the male demographic. (Gilette anyone?). The latter was upset that the brand had to resort to blatant gender stereotyping to fight gender roles.
The initial reaction to the ad was one of disbelief. If Vim is trying to make a big egalitarian statement about men doing their share of household chores, why is it taking the same hackneyed path brands often take to sell their female-oriented products to men, complete with a macho makeover and the colour black?
The chatter around the ad got so loud that the brand and the creative agency were forced to come out with the "we were just joking" justification.
"The aim of this campaign is to rekindle a perspective change in a non-preachy, quirky way so that chores at home can truly become democratised," said Deepak Subramanian, Executive Director & VP – Home Care, HUL South Asia.
Prateek Bhardwaj, CCO - Lowe Lintas also explained that it was "a subversive approach to tell men that they too, belong equally at the sink."
No laughing matter
Fake ads for fake products are not a novelty in the ad world, but such gimmicks are usually reserved for April Fools.
The fault could lie in how Vim is perceived as a brand, says brand consultant Nisha Sampath, Bright Angles Consulting LLP. "I think the primary disconnect most of us had, was that the ad did not fit with the functional 'serious' persona and values of Vim."
Even its 2021 campaign ‘Nazariya Badlo' is far from irreverent. "Another problem is that it was too abrupt. A single ad won't bring about a change. Also, the ad feels gimmicky, which is why it has put off women, not just men," emphasised Sampath.
Sonam Shah, Founder and CEO at Treize Communication, seconds the thought: "Vim as a mass brand may not have an audience which is social media savvy."
She also notes that the approach could have worked well in small towns where there's an actual need to get men involved in daily chores.
Gaurav Arora, Co-Founder, Social Panga, appreciates the end objective of the campaign as an advertiser. "But as a consumer, the road chosen was rocky," he rued.
He also disapproved of the lack of preparedness. "They came out with full force and no reinforcements. I think a sequel to that ad would have been magical impromptu thought."
Founder and Managing Partner of Alchemist Brand Consulting Samit Sinha begs to differ. "I believe it did exactly what I imagine it set out to do, which was to create a buzz for the brand in an otherwise relatively dull and boring category."
The criticisms, he believes, are coming from a vocal and strident few. "I don’t think that the message was taken the wrong way by the majority," he asserted.
Why so serious?
It's no secret that humour helps sell products. By Vim's own admission, the campaign was meant as a joke. So why didn't it land as expected?
"I think the use of humour – whether in advertising or stand-up comedy in India - is often misunderstood and satire is completely missed," noted Lloyd Mathias, Business Strategist and Independent Director.
"The only reason that brands use humour less, is that they are afraid they may receive a backlash – as Vim has. But we can always test ads and gauge consumer opinion, so I don’t see a reason to fear this," said Sampath.
Sinha also highlighted the fact that in the business of making good ads, it's hard to please everyone. So Vim has to be ok with annoying some people. "Humour and satire work very well in advertising, in India, as in the rest of the world. At the same time, the few humourless exist everywhere and they should be disregarded," he affirmed.
It's hard to avoid brickbats if brands want to be bold. "If no one disagrees with the message, the brand is perhaps playing it too safe to be noticed," Sinha asserted.
Mathias, like Sinha, maintained that there's nothing wrong with Vim's campaign. "It is a unique method used by the brand to make a point about men sharing household chores."
He encouraged more such efforts from the brands' side to drive a positive impact on society, especially since GenZ and millennial consumers are taking progressive stands on key issues. "Given their heft and reach, brands have become important elements in shaping culture and moulding opinion," he said.
"Everything is a learning process and in today’s time when social media reactions are so unpredictable, a brand or an agency cannot make path-breaking campaigns if a certain risk is not involved," concluded Shah.
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