When I first saw the new television commercial for e-serve Citigroup Global Services being aired in India, I thought I'd missed something - because no one could have actually made make such a crappy ad!
Then suddenly I saw it again, and again! Realisation dawned: I wasn't missing anything, but the ad was missing everything - logic, intelligence, credibility and class!
The commercial features a guy walking up to the camera and saying "e-serve is now citigroup global services and everyone's excited. Don't believe me, listen..." and then he goes on to sing and clap the same line to a bunch of toddlers, who (being innocent gullible toddlers) get caught up with the excitement of the clapping and start clapping themselves... "see! everyone's excited" he ends with a smugly pompous look on his face.
Yeh. That's one ad. Another has the guy mouth the same line and then hold up the mike below a screaming-with-excitement-bungee-jumper. "see, everyone's excited" he says again.
Obviously the company's trying very hard to convince people that e-serve becoming citigroup global services is a good thing. But couldn't get anyone to be really excited, even for their ads! Leading to this big-time faking-it script.
It's not just me - last week's Economic Times Brand Equity panel has also panned the ad as "Bekaar" (lousy). And I quote "Looks like someone at the agency took the client brief of drumming up excitement very literally. But if you need to be told by some guy on TV that 'everyone is excited' it doesn't speak much for the excitement. Or for Citigroup, for that matter."
Hello! What were you thinking??!
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