I wish I had made these
The first ad that Gerald Jayaranjan, senior creative director at Euro RSCG, wishes to have worked on is the Indian Idol ‘Har idol ke peeche na jaane kitne idols hote hai’ ad. He says, ?I am someone who usually likes humour in advertising. But this series of ads caught me from the word go. The emotion it invokes is powerful enough to make you pause. It’s what I call the ?sigh factor?. As a professional it makes you sigh that you didn?t make it. As a consumer it makes you sigh at the situations, the little stories that are conveyed so beautifully in such a short time. You remember it, probably, always will. And that?s the bottom line.? The other ad that Jayaranjan votes for is the Bournvita Lil Champs ‘cheek pulling’ ad. Talking about it, he says, ?A simple insight translated beautifully on screen. It?s a wonder how something this simple has never been done before. Every kid, yes, even you in your childhood, hated the cheek pulling and the talking to in a language that must have been the official language of the planet ‘Retardia’. And for the life of us, we still don?t know why people did it to us. And now, why we do it to kids. It captures all the clich?s of using kids in advertising, films, society in general and tears them apart in a single simple moment.? He adds, ?The kid in me laughed. Giggled. And felt vindicated.?
Thank god, it isn?t me
The two ads that the Euro RSCG senior creative director is happy he hasn’t done include the Fiat ‘underwater’ ad and all the current deo ads. Talking about the Fiat ad, he says, ?What does the ad even mean? What do they want to say? Is its a range for water-proof cars that Fiat is launching? And for a brand that is as iconic as Fiat this most definitely isn?t good enough. Also the production standards leave a lot to be desired.?
About all the current deo ads, he says, ?Everything smells the same, er, looks the same. I mean, what do the servicing people say to the creatives? How can any creative person like to do such ads? Man sprays deo, women fall all over him. Here, I am referring to every deo ad except the Axe ones. They, at least, were the first ones to take this stance and have doing it differently consistently for ages.?
My first ad
Jayaranjan’s first film was a campaign on cancer awareness for the World Health Organisation when he was a junior writer at Mudra, Delhi. There was a series of films made for oral cancer, cervical cancer and breast cancer. He says, ?Ah! The first one is always special. Even more so when it?s a film. And much more so when it wins a silver at the GoaFest.?
Talking about his experience, he says, ?The shoot was supposed to happen in Mumbai. And since I was a ?pappu? (novice) writer, my travel and stay for the shoot wasn?t authorised. My creative director at that time, Saurav Dasgupta, prevailed and on agency expense I was sent to Mumbai. So, while the biggies flew, I was an esteemed guest of the Indian Railways. And this was just two days after the great floods. On that shoot, I learnt that making films isn?t pointing a camera and shooting. My respect for Steven Spielberg grew. My creative director patiently used to sit me down during the shots, explain each and every thing – why the angle, why the shot, what relevance. The importance of continuity is something that I still preach and follow religiously. And of course, I got to know that Jim Morrison did not know to play a single instrument.?
Jayaranjan started off his career as an intern (copy) at McCann Erickson, Delhi. He says, ?At that stage in my life, I hated every thing about advertising. Vowed to the gods of Rock ‘n’ Roll and journalism that I would never get into advertising. My dean at my post-graduate institute sat me down and explained her decision to send me to McCann while I sulked.?
After this, he spent three months at McCann and that is when he decided to pursue a career in copy, thanks to his mentor and guide, Prateek Bharadwaj.
After this, he moved to The Hive and then to FCB, to Mudra and then to TBWA. He moved to Euro RSCG, Mumbai about three years ago. Jayaranjan has numerous awards to his credit including the Abbys, with several of his work finalists at Cannes Lions and New York Festivals. He has been ranked amongst the top 1000 creatives of Asia by Campaign Brief Asia.
