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A blazing victory

JWT Chennai pulled it off once again, winning a gold at Cannes for its unusual Kurkure ad

SPICE AND FIRE From the Kurkure ad

They say some advertisers will do anything to win a gold at Cannes. JWT Chennai set a man on fire. And came back with gold from the 53rd International Advertising Festival, the Cannes Lions 2006.

A man pops a stick of Kurkure Spicy Snack into his mouth and suddenly bursts into flames. And all this in a crowded market place. Once the flame has been doused, the professional stuntman distributes Kurkure Spicy Snack to a crowd that's still recovering. The promo was one of more than 700 entries in the new category created out of the Outdoor section, the Promo Lions.

But according to Joono Simon, Associate VP and Senior Creative Director, this was a sure winner right from the beginning. "It works not only because the execution was unusual and unexpected particularly for an international jury but the live action stunt was startling and was true to the core brand promise of the product," he said.

The idea to be conveyed was that Kurkure was truly spicy. With Account Supervisor, Narayanaswamy Iyer, and photographer Muthukumar, the team hired a professional stuntman to carry out the act, getting insurance. It took more than a week to plan. There was the right market to find, police permission to be sought and the cameramen to be posted at vantage points. And then that perfect take. It's JWT's new belief — to take advertising into the 31st second, says Anita Gupta, Senior VP and GM. "The fact that the work was for a national client — Lehar Kurkure — only shows us that big clients want out-of-the-box, edgy work," she says.

"This could have only been executed in India," says Simon, who was also behind last year's winning idea for Red Cross. The cultural references, the performing arts style execution, the idea itself — so spicy that it sets you on fire — is rooted in comfortable Indian-ness. This one's not about the star, the cherubic kids, the catchy jingle or that homely smile, this one is just about the idea.

"It's no longer about just another press ad or a great TV commercial. We have to explore new media and interact with consumers in new and exciting ways. To win big, you need to take big risks. The Kurkure promo is such a risk. And we pulled it off," says Gupta.

Advertisers depend on promos, outdoors, and ambient media to carry out ideas that conservative clients won't buy. It is their little creative escape. It's where the idea rules, and not the budget. And though the tribe, both individually and at agency level, is divided between those who believe in advertising that works and advertising that wins, "an award sets higher standards for everyone," says Simon.

There is just one tiny thing that went wrong — everyone wanted a free Kurkure after the act.

MEERA MOHANTY

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