For a change, lets look at how the makers chose to forget logic while scripting this commercial for State Bank of India (SBI) home loans..
This ad is being aired so often , its hard to miss..during the Indian Premier League (IPL -2013) (its a domestic Twenty 20 cricket tournament in India), I thought it was aired almost in every second commercial break. So a lot of money spent on airing it. So disappointing that this commercial which is full of blunders is the flagship ad for home loans from SBI, India's largest bank
First some positives to which the commercial could not do justice
- product itself - really competitive rates
- the punchline of the commercial - EMI hua kam, ghoomne chale hum (roughly translates to "EMI has come down so we can afford a holiday now"). so a smart thing to air this during the holiday season and promote the home loan
Despite the second point which goes in the commercial's favour, one cant help but notice how some things are just stuffed illogically in the story
- father has shifted the loan already and its a surprise surprise for the wife??.. So he never bothered to inform her while he was shifting the loan? shifting a home loan from one bank to another does not happen with a blink of an eye. With two banks involved, clearances and documentation with both the banks, its a long and dreary task and throughout the process wife was not in the loop?. Come on. the wife does not come across as someone who wouldn't understand finances. In fact, she also questions the husband why is he promising a holiday to the kids while the home loan EMI takes away most of the income. So she is indeed in the know on the finances of the house and yet husband has not kept her in the loop about the loan transfer
- isn't it odd that the husband has no other situation in which he would announce to his family that he has shifted his loan, EMI has come down and now they can afford a holiday. Why does he wait till the son and daughter complain about not getting to go for a holiday.. whats with the suspense boss... its almost as if the father is not interested in sharing this with his family and only when he feels he has no other choice, he makes the "happy announcement". Funny, since I think this should have come from the father suo moto and not as a reaction to his son's whining
- a third point, not so severe, though yet illogical The son gets all padded up and goes to play a match and comes back dejected that no one turned up. I think a teenager would have the good sense of confirming & co-ordinating with this friends whether they are coming for the match. . Especially today's kids can and so easily do such co-ordination on SMS or instant messengers. Yet this fellow doesn't.
- casting and performances are so ordinary that they do nothing to save the commercial.
here's my take on what I think should have been the script.. father entering the home one evening, with holiday tickets, wife and husband exchanging glances as if the wife is trying to confirm something (basically confirming the shifting of the loan) and then both of them jointly announcing to kids of holiday surprise. and then the commercial could have ended with the husband discussing with his wife what a good decision it was to shift the loan.
while it is often argued that one needs to be relatively liberal while questioning logic in advertisements (since the story is not the product here, it is only supporting the promotion of a product), my problem is you cant completely leave logic on the attic, which I feel is the case with most of the elements of this commercial
Am really curious how was this script was approved. Large organisations have such elaborate approval procedures for the smallest of decisions. and yet here you have a on air commercial with so many flaws.
