While the brand Amul was
registered and started its work in 1957, the advertising campaign started only
in 1966. The DaCunha ad agency of Mumbai was given the
responsibility of the brand’s ad campaign by Dr Verghese Kurien, head of
Amul and the father of India’s White Revolution – the world’s biggest
dairy development programme.
Back then, advertising on
television and print media was wildly expensive and so Sylvester DaCunha, the
founder-chairman of DaCunha Communications, decided to design an Amul ad
campaign for the more affordable outdoor hoardings.
Sylvester da Cunha, left, won the Amul account in
1966. His son Rahul, right, inherited it.
The Amul girl was created by
Eustace Fernandes, the art director of DaCunha Communications in 1966, the same
year the simple yet catchy phrase “Utterly Butterly” was coined by
Sylvester’s wife, Nisha DaCunha. Initially, the word ‘butterly‘ met with a
lot of skepticism, because it was ungrammatical. However, it worked
superbly for the brand and soon became one of the most memorable taglines in
Indian advertising!
In 1966, DaCunha and
Fernandes designed the mascot’s first public appearance on billboards.
The cute image of Amul girl kneeling in prayer, with one eye closed and another
on a pack of butter with the words, “Give us this day our daily bread with
Amul Butter” got an immediate positive response from the public.
However, DaCunha soon realised that
there was only so much one could say about food. He decided to pitch the
dairy brand’s ad campaign differently, in a way that would instantly connect
with the public. In 1966, he released the Amul girl’s first topical
ad. Titled “Thoroughbread”, the ad showed the Amul girl as a jockey
holding a slice of bread during the horse race season. The feedback was
again very positive.
Next came the monsoon ad,
“Pitter-patter, pick-a, pack-a Amul butter”, and an ad about
the Kolkata hartals of 1960s ,”Bread without Amul —cholbe na,
cholbe na”. A clever play on the slogans of the processions, “Cholbe
na!” (or “Will not do!”), the ad drew a smile from Bengalis across the
country.
While Amul’s topicals ads were
very popular, they also posed a challenge – they needed to be
released quickly or else, the would lose much of their impact. Realising
that the protocol and logistics of approving and releasing an ad took a lot of
time, Verghese Kurien gave DaCunha Communications the freedom to run the
campaign without waiting to take permission from the company. This
very rare gesture reflected Verghes Kurien’s seasoned business
acumen and unique way of going about things. This immense creative
freedom is still maintained and is the the reason why the Amul girl is never
late with her take on the world.
Amul’s’
mascot was seen weeping for the first time ever (since 1964) in an
advertisement “Thank You For Giving us Hausla, Pragati & Anand……Dr V Kurien
1921-2012,” the ad read.
No matter what the change—and
what the reasons behind it—may be, Amul’s wide-eyed moppet has seen, and
survived, it all.
