I remember it very well when I was quite young and my whole family just used to say “Aa gayi” (She has come) when a young woman was shown on TV dancing on a cricket field with a bar of chocolate in her hand. That 90s ad, which still creates nostalgia, was from Cadbury and became a favorite of countless people in India. The ad had an inspiring song titled ‘Kuchh Khaas Hai Hum Sabhi Mein’ (There’s something special in all of us). Well Cadbury is airing a new ad now, in which everything remains the same. But the new Cadbury ad has a beautiful change that was long overdue, as you can now see a female cricketer instead of a male one. The young woman who danced to the tune of ‘Kuchh Khaas Hai Jindagi Mein’ has been replaced with a young man.
In the 90s ad, the young woman is shown anxiously waiting for the last ball to be played at the cricket match. She is holding a Cadbury bar in hand when the batsman (who seems to be her boyfriend) hits the ball out of the boundary. That is when the woman cheerfully celebrates by coming on the field and dancing with abandon. The new ad, which now has a young man dancing on the field instead of a woman not only creates nostalgia but its take on the change in gender roles has been commended by people from all walks of life. There indeed is something special in all of us as the ad says that inspires us to celebrate even the small wins whether you are a man or a woman. And all lives matter, as there’s something special in all of us.
The new ad has gone viral again on social media, just like the old one did on TV.
One Twitter user Surya Sharma said he got an instant flashback of his childhood through the new ad.
Advertising veteran Piyush Pandey made the original ad when he was Head of Video at Ogilvy at the time. After watching the new ad, Pandey’s niece Sharin Bhatti, says it is a cool gender reversal that she witnessed in her lifetime.
According to Senior director of marketing at Mondelez India, Anil Viswanathan says the person who came up with the idea for the new Cadbury ad was a young creative in Ogilvy and they immediately loved the idea. It is evident that this commercial was legendary, it generated a trend and culture at the time and we think it can be a cultural leader as well.
Karthik Srinivasan, a famed columnist who worked for Ogilvy earlier, shared the ad on Twitter, saying, a simple, apparent twist, that should have been made a long time ago has finally been made. In his tweet, Srinivasan asked Ogilvy and Cadbury Dairy Milk, to take a bow.
The new ad drew the attention of Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin, who retweeted, saying, WOW! Well Played, Cadbury. Ravichandran is happy that his daughters will grow up watching the new ad now.
Piyush Pandey said the both the ads both represent a change in times. According to him, at that time the vibe was hope and confidence of flying,now it’s about women coming out to achieve big things in their lives.
