Cadbury Bournville, FeviKwik and more: top creative ads of the week

My weekly compilation of clutter-breaking creative ads is a tribute to ad agency teams everywhere. I know how difficult it is to get ads approved and be noticed by the public, especially amidst the information & sensory overload. This week, ads from Cadbury Bournville, FeviKwik and more.

Cadbury Bournville: made to be enjoyed, not endured

Many industry veterans in India lament the decline of English copywriting in India. It is quite rare to see a well-crafted, well-written print ad in India today. The benchmark for such would be the classic print adverts from the 1990s or early 2000s. Their hallmark: a creative idea, compelling writing (often with a cleaver headline, nice turns of phrases and a closure which ties it all back to the headline or the central idea) and great art direction (with or without visuals). Such efforts came from a copy-writer & art director team.

There is great copywriting involved in TV ads too but in a different context. It is more about script writing and great dialogues. A new TVC for Cadbury Bournville has some fantastic copywriting. There is some amount of snobbery involved in finer things like wine, gourmet food and dark chocolates. The ad positions Cadbury Bournville as just an enjoyable chocolate, shorn of all the pompousness around dark chocolates among those who consider themselves connoisseurs.

Agency: VCCP

Fiverr: Prompt & Punishment

In 2024, Fiverr, the marketplace for freelance services released a popular ad ‘Nobody cares’ claiming that AI is only good as the people using it. And then they created an ad which personifies AI as a human being ‘who is always trying to create but never getting it right’. A new TVC cleverly showcases the AI skills in video of freelancers on their platform, by creating an ad made with AI. While it obviously looks AI-made, the premise and the jaw-dropping effects makes us laugh while driving home the point.

FeviKwik: Khujli, AI etc.

It’s always great to see creative teams having fun in cracking an idea for a brand that too thinking beyond the traditional 30-second TVC. In a bid to cue Fevikwik glues anything to anything, a campaign provides bizarre solutions for everyday chores sticking two unlikely, ‘disconnected’ objects. There’s even a microsite where one can share ideas which will then be ‘generated’ by AI!

All good fun, clever, on-brand and meant to solve a business problem. Or should we say, bus(AI)ness problem? Loved the little touches: KwikGPT, the voice over (Raza Murad?) and the dialogues. This is so much better than case-study driven projects means for Cannes.

Agency: Ogilvy

Larsen & Toubro: Just Leap

It’s rare to see good print as in India nowadays. Even rarer to see them in corporate campaigns. Loved the way, facts & achievements of Larsen & Toubro are given a context and made relatable – 10x hotter sun, 93MN miles closer than the original one etc.

Agency: TBWA

Hornbach: No Project Without Drama

In societies where DIY culture is so strong, Hornbach has created some wonderful commercials where a ‘project’ is at the centre. A new film, showcases the bathtub installation in the form of an epic musical with a grand production. Loved it.

Agency: HeimatTBWA/Berlin

Felix: its great to be a cat

Cat lovers literally seek out content on social media that meets their goal of ‘I need a break from all the politics and gore’ in my timeline. In that context, simply highlighting the antics of cats by the legendary brand Felix is so endearing. BTW, what happened to their famous line ‘Cats like Felix, love Felix‘?