The king of advertising: Fevicol makes some of the coolest ads in the industry

Fevicol has been the most trusted adhesive brand of Indians for over 60 years now, and it has been ruling the advertisement segment since the late nineties, ever since their first televised advertisement hit the market.

Fevicol is one of the few brands which has mastered the art of ‘moment marketing’, i.e., to improvise upon advertising strategies depending upon current affairs and ongoing happenings which are of national, and even international importance. Their latest advertisement proves that they are rulers of moment marketing.

Coronavirus has been declared a pandemic, with 147 cases in India till now. As such, media and brand marketing can go a long way in spreading awareness about a fundamental preventive measure w.r.t COVID-19, i.e., social distancing. In a bid to spread the message of social distancing, Fevicol tweaked their iconic logo of two elephants and increased the distance between them.

The caption read, “Social distancing made simple”, while the text on the poster read, “Kal ke majboot jod ke liye, aaj thodi doori maintain karona“. The wordplay between ‘Corona’ and ‘Karona’ here does the trick, with the unusual distance between the elephants also carrying forward a message.

Fevicol advertisements have historically been simplistic, with a minimalistic approach. As a result, it is rarely seen that an extravagant setup or dialogue usage is incorporated. In fact, the setup is always one with which the average Indian can connect almost instantly. Also, culture plays an important role in many of Fevicol’s advertisements.

“The brand advertising of Fevicol has always been heartwarming bringing smile to your face. The idea was always to bring out small cultural nuances and mix it well with the bonding proposition of the brand. The simplicity of the Fevicol advertising has resonated well with consumers over the years,“ said Piyush Pandey, chief creative officer worldwide and executive chairman India, Ogilvy, told Livemint last year.

The first advertisement of Fevicol was directed by Rajkumar Hirani, a fact many are not aware about. He also featured in the ad himself. The ad was the iconic ‘Dum Laga ke Haisha’, in which many well-built men and even an elephant were trying to break a log fixed using Fevicol by playing tug-of-war. Of course, they were unsuccessful to do so.

There are multiple advertisements which have been celebrated by the Indian audience over the years. Who can forget the overloaded bus, with multiple passengers both inside and outside? Yet, not one passenger falls down. Although one cannot understand why such a balance is maintained, at the very end of the ad, the back of the bus has written on it “Fevicol – The ultimate adhesive”.

The advertisement of Sitaram effortlessly breaking eggs, yet, not being able to do so with one particular egg even after using a hammer was another ad which enticed the audience. Later it was shown that the hen which gave the egg was eating from a box of Fevicol.

Another advertisement which resonated with the audience was the ‘joint family’ one, which put across the point of the immensity of relationships in Indian families and their ability to stay together. In this advertisement, a little boy asks whether someone had given water to the Tulsi plant in the courtyard, to which the entire family of over 100 people replies one after the other. Ultimately the boy, not getting an answer, decides to water the plant again.

The “Dahi Handi” sport is one which is risky in nature, and often leads to injuries among those participating. In an advertisement of around 1:15 minutes, Fevicol shows a team effortlessly indulging in the sport, and also walking around with the formed human pyramid. When a boy throws a bucket of water on the players, it is shown that they are wearing ‘Fevicol’ T-shirts, hence the strong bond between them.

After the breakup of the Royal Family, Fevicol had this to say:

Needless to say, Fevicol has perhaps the most effective and resonating advertising model at play in the market. And the reasons are well known.