Cadbury’s Bournvita ad: Force fit or tour de force?

On Friday, Cadbury Bournvita rolled out its ‘Forced Pack’ campaign for Children’s Day with an aim to sensitise parents against forcing kids into preset career moulds. To make a point, the brand showcased the product in containers meant for other items – ketchup bottle, tissue holder, disinfectant, etc. – instead of the usual Bournvita jar. Over the weekend, the campaign conceptualised by Ogilvy Mumbai went viral, encouraging debates and discussions on the internet.

To understand the creative process behind the campaign, e4m reached out to Ogilvy’s Chief Creative Officers Harshad Rajadhyaksha and Kainaz Karmakar.

While Bournvita previously endorsed competitive spirit in its ‘Tayyari Jeet ki’ campaign, the brand has realigned its tone in the last three years to be more mindful of children’s mental health.

However, with the recent campaign, the brand has taken the liberty to alter the packaging to send a strong message across to its target audience – the parents.

Speaking about the changing narrative and the brand taking a bolder step, Rajadhyaksha said, “If you look broader perspective on what Bournvita has been doing, it is on ‘Tayyari Jeet Ki’ which is an integral part in a lot of activation and on-ground work with kids. If you look at the journey, we have always stood by this. We have been enabling the kids to be physically active and prepare for the world which is Tayyari jeet ki.”

While Karmakar added, “Bournvita stands for progressive parenting and there is no real need for a brief anymore between the client and the agency. Any idea that comes to us is pushing a certain philosophy of progressive parenting ahead, we go to the client and we make it happen.”

The objective of the ‘Forced Packs’ campaign is to surprise people said Karmarkar. A ketchup bottle containing Bournvita is an anomaly, which should provoke parents into thinking that no one should force their children to be something they are not meant to be. “We have even received responses from parents and teachers alike,” she added.

The brand also rolled out a print campaign across all the leading newspapers.

Discussions and debates followed, as per usual, on the internet. While many appreciated the campaign and the thought behind it, others say it is not relevant for the current times. Some also said that the concept seems "forced fit."

That's the great thing about BournVita. Their ad campaigns are targeted towards the utmost benefit and well-being of their (actual) consumers.

Not the first time they've come up with something so simple yet so brilliant. They once did a similar ad with t-shirts as metaphor. https://t.co/UgmM11J7TQ

— Shubhankar Tiwari (@shubh_sapien) November 12, 2022

I think that #bournvita ad made so much sense to me because I have been forced think and act like someone else almost my entire life. I also love when obscure ads click with me. I may not be the TG but I get the deeper message.

— Shay ? (@Shayoneespeaks) November 12, 2022

But if it changes, we look for the reason for that change. Burnvita is well aware of this and tried this approach. If Bournvita can become a soap, why not children become something else they like? An excellent message with an excellent ad campaign idea.

— Monish Reddy K (@MonishReddyK2) November 13, 2022

The campaign has also been accused of not keeping up with the times since parenting styles have undergone a sea change. The audience have already embraced movies like Taare Zameen Par, Wake up Sid, Tamasha, and Dead Poets Society, which encourage children to follow their passion. With changing landscape, parents are becoming more open-minded about letter their children follow their passion.  

Rajadhyaksha and Karmakar addressed these comments: “Ever since 1950, anti-smoking has been a thing. Just because they have been addressed before, has the problem evaporated? It is still there.

“Your message should be refreshed year after year to make it more meaningful and to cut the clutter. A simple example would be the polio campaign done by Ogilvy and Piyush Pandey. They kept at it over the years, now once the problem has largely been eradicated.”

Moving away from the issue only makes sense if the problem has been routed out of the society, they hinted.

“Right now, a lot of young kids are not finding the avenues to follow their passion. This has been talked about over the years, but to say it disruptively, that is where our creativity comes in.”

With such a bold campaign, the agency might have to face some challenges, the CCOs said that there was sheer hard work put into making this happen while especially mentioning ECD & Copywriter, Akshay Seth, GCD & Art Director, Chinmay Raut as well as the team from Mondelez who helped in getting the logistics in place for having the product into various containers and making it available in stores.

Rajadhyaksha added, “We have to do a lot of research on the same. How many brands do you think to have iconic product visibility and are willing to change? Nothing like this has been done before. The product container has an iconic shape and then to alter the packaging into different shapes, talking to fabricators etcetera, we have taken the extra mile to get this done. Akshay Sheth and Chinmay Raut have worked very hard to make this happen. We have had many rounds of meetings. As it's not something that we are keeping for showcasing. People will buy it and take it homes.”

The limited collection will be available in stores as well as on some online portals. Despite all the mixed reviews, the campaign has been successful in making people introspect, which is a win in itself.