Throwback Thursday: The ad that made Moti synonymous to Diwali

Diwali mornings are incomplete without the Abhyanga Snan or the holy bath. On the auspicious occasion of Narak Chaturdashi, households wake up at the crack of dawn, apply oil on the body and scrub it down with ubtan, which is a mixture of powdered herbs and spices.

The idea behind taking such an elaborate bath is to symbolically scrub the body and mind of all evil and to begin afresh on Diwali.

The concept of the abhyanga snan, while rooted in tradition, also opened up an opportunity for soap brands to position their products as a substitute for the ubtan mix. The one who rose to the challenge was Moti Soap.

Moti was the brand of Tata Oil Mills Company (TOMCO) until the latter was merged with Hindustan Unilever in 1993.

The soap was positioned to differentiate it from the other brands in the market. It was thicker and hence more long-lasting than regular soaps. Priced at Rs 25 even in the 80s, it was promoted as a luxury soap.

Perhaps its biggest differentiating feature was its shape. Unlike the others, Moti was round (a nod to its name perhaps?) and not rectangular.

The makers marketed the brand as a soap meant for the abhyanga snan. Curiously, marketing for Moti also seemed to pick up during the Diwali months.

Call it the genius of positioning, most households started swapping the oil-ubtan tradition for a less elaborate but refreshing bath with Moti, which was available in three fragrances: Rose, Sandal and Khus.

Whether intentional or otherwise, the choice of fragrances may have also pushed the soap's popularity during Diwali, since sandal and khus are common ingredients in the ubtan.

Perhaps the biggest game-changer for the brand was its ad in the 90s. Ogilvy, who handled the soap maker's account, crafted a Diwali ad, which left an indelible impression on the consumer's mind.

Moti became synonymous with Diwali, and here's the ad that started it all.

A woman walks down a flight of stairs with a lit thali in hand. With her hair still wet from the early morning bath, she applies a bindi on her forehead. Images of rangoli, diya and pearls follow.

The lyrics used for the ad is also telling: "Man irsha ke dhool ko dhoti, boondien bhi moti ke. Nayi subah aur nayi kiranon ka le aayi ujiyala." (The mind washes away the dust of jealousy. Even drops take the form of pears, bringing the light of the new dawn and the new rays.)

The crux of the ad was about the purity of mind and body, washing away the impurities and starting afresh on Diwali.

To this day, bound by childhood habits, people still look up soap online around the time of the festive season. Google Trends for the last five years show the searches spiking around the October-November window.

Sadly, the brand did not market the soap aggressively, resurrecting itself yearly only on Diwali. Some believe that TOMCO's merger with HUL had something to do with it. The brand lost its sheen, settling to become a seasonal brand than an everyday brand.

In 2013, however, the brand brought out an ad for the festive season in the Maharashtra market after a huge hiatus. The proposition was the same -- Diwali is Moti.

It shows a father recollecting the story of an older gentleman or alarm kaka who went door to door on Diwali mornings, knocking on the doors with a bar of Moti soap. He says, "Utha, utha. Diwali aali. Moti snanachi vel aali." (Wake up, wake up. It's Diwali. It's time for a bath with Moti soap.)

Many oldtimers were reminded of the old Moti ad and its inextricable connection to Diwali. It also evoked nostalgia among the kids of the 80s and the 90s, who have grown up watching the ad.

While the product is still available in the market, the brand's reserved approach towards marketing makes one wonder whether it will rely on household traditions to pass on the soap's popularity to the newer generations.