Ads that could have been a hug in the past: Creative heads on childhood ads

As a kid, I had simple dreams: unlimited snacks and a TV remote all to myself to watch cartoons all day. And do you know which part I didn’t like at all? TV ads. I know no one likes watching TV ads, and that’s why making great and fun ads that people actually want to watch is a tough job. But my dislike for TV ads went a bit deeper. Every time I looked, there was no one in my shape in any of the fun, cool commercials.

The few times I did see a fat person, they were always in weight-loss ads. Every time, the message was painfully clear: if you were fat, well, tough luck because the world was on a mission to ‘fix’ you. Forget being funny, bold, or confident. You’d never see a fat person cracking a joke, scoring a goal, or just being the life of the party.

No, in Ad Land, fatness was a ‘before’ state, a problem just waiting for a miracle green tea or magic pill to ‘save’ them. Or maybe they thought fat people wouldn’t be able to handle a storyline that wasn’t about dropping pounds? And here I thought I was just trying to enjoy my cartoons.

Imagine how different it would have been if, instead of all those weight-loss ads, we saw fat kids dreaming big and having fun, not getting lectured on BMI. Or instead of a fat mom measuring herself against the kitchen counter in shame and a fat dad being laughed at in his office, what if we saw grown-ups who looked like the people I knew, laughing loud, living life without a calorie counter in sight. How fun would it be to see them content, funny, capable, even a little wild? Because, shockingly, fat people do that too. But instead, ads kept hammering home the same sad message: there’s only one ‘right’ way to be. And if you’re not it, you’d better be working on it.

With Children’s Day around the corner, as I looked up to reflect on the representation that could have been, I also spoke to creative folks who are making a difference for kids of today – to share the ads they wish they’d seen growing up—the characters, the stories, the ads that could’ve reminded us we were enough, just as we were. Because maybe, just maybe, we could’ve grown up knowing that happiness doesn’t come with a dress size, and no one needs ‘fixing’ to belong. Here’s what they have to say.

Adyasha Roy Tomar, Creative Director, McCann Worldgroup:

When I was younger, my best friend was called Alemyim Isaac from Nagaland. One day, I asked her which country she was from. She must’ve been hurt. I remember that day and wish I’d seen more representation from the Northeast growing up. Assam, Mizoram, Nagaland… advertising creates culture and I think that would’ve made a huge impact.

I was a chubby kid. If I could go back in time and make an ad where the chubby kid wasn’t the butt of all jokes. I’d take it further by making her the protagonist – maybe the main popular girl could be chubbier. I would probably even include LGBTQ characters in kid-friendly ways. A full-on rainbow ad!

Azazul Haque, Group Chief Creative Officer, Creativeland Asia:

While I was growing up, I wish I had seen more content around characters that were coming of age. I wish there were content or characters that would have taught me about various phases of adolescence. As there was and even now there is very less content or communication about how life changes while we are growing up. There is either content for a child or for adults.

If I had to go back in time I would create an ad which teaches me as a child to respect girls and be more inclusive. That educates me more about girls and how they think or feel. If we were taught about it then, perhaps there were lesser issues of gender inequality now.

Santosh Padhi, Chief Creative Officer, Wieden + Kennedy India:

I grew up in an era that had very few mediums, and that too for middle-class families or kids. Ads were targeted to the upper class, with newspapers and magazines taking centre stage.

There were very few television sets around my locality that, too, were black and white televisions only. I wish there were more colourful ads to begin with, be it on print or television. Due to the cost, most ads used to be in black and white. I liked static ads as I grew up with them; in those days, due to the complex photographic process and reproduction, illustration took the lead, and some of them are still beautifully carved on my chota magaj.

Outdoors, those days were hand painted they surely had a character and personality to give an example, our Bollywood hand-painted poster will always be the greatest outdoors forever, being an outdoor person, I always liked big, bold, chunky, colourful outdoors as they looked good with illustrations taking the major area of communication 

Baring a few candy brands, no brands spoke to me those days, they all spoke to my parents. But frankly I have no complaints against brands who did not speak to me. Maybe we were most focused on the basics of consumption rather than excess consumption. But kids are lucky and unlucky these days. They have so many options to choose from which puts pressure on me as a parent now. We are living in a cluttered world more than we need. Hence, there is a subtle fight in the society for the same reason as sometimes less is more and more is always less.

Shantesh S Row, Chief Creative Officer, Slant Advertising:

Growing up in the 1980s, ads in India were often centred on traditional family setups and gender stereotypes. One of the most played ads then was the Vicks commercial, which typically showed a mother taking care of her son – who was down with a cold – and then rubbing Vicks on him to make him feel better. An effective ad, nonetheless, one that still reinforced a 'mother as the protector' trope.

But when I saw the 'Touch of Care' ad by Vicks commercial around 2017/18 – which told the story of a transgender mother and her adopted daughter, challenging conventional views on family and parenthood, I was quite taken aback by how the same 'mother as the protector' story could be told in a different manner.

It emphasised compassion and acceptance. And I felt it made a representation that would make many children feel seen and valued. I wish some of the ads from the 80s had this spirit.

If I were to create an ad for my younger self, I would definitely create the Surf Excel ad 'Daag Acche Hain' commercial. It resonated with my own childhood at school – monsoon rains in Mumbai, red gumboots, splashing in the mud and making one's school uniform dirty, and then realising mummy would be furious at home.

I loved how it showed a child experiencing the joy of discovery and learning without the fear of making mistakes. That imperfections are part of growth. That making mistakes and getting dirty in the process is okay.

Swati Bhattacharya, Global Head at GCPL's Lightbox Creative Lab:

In my time, there was a lot of 'beta,' a lot of parental imagination around their ambitions and expectations were always centered around 'beta.' That’s something I wish had been different, but I’m glad I got to witness the shift from when it became about too much of 'beta' to 'beti.'

The idea is that a girl child was born in preparation for a final destination, being a wedding or a good home. So a lot of the blessings that we saw in advertising and also in real life were never that 'may you stay with us forever,' but it was more about 'may you find a good home.'  It made every girl feel that she was in transit when she was in her parents' home.

Also, a lot of the kids we see in advertising are prototypes: either extroverted or very sporty. I don’t think we show many other types of childhood that are possible, like a quieter, more introspective child or a reader. Instead, we often see either a very sporty kid or a 'chatpata' [lively] kid.

As for childhood, it’s portrayed as if it’s performative. These are the years where kids are expected to entertain their parents and their friends. As an only child, I spent a lot of time by myself, and a very intrinsic part of my day involved spending a few hours getting bored. I think those hours of boredom were the only times where you try to find things to do, ways to entertain yourself. And I would have loved to do a health drink ad that wasn’t about excelling, but just about being okay with yourself.

Uddhav Parab, Senior Creative Director, Interactive Avenues: 

I think the ad I wish I could see when I was younger was find your greatness launch ad that Nike did for the London Olympics in 2012. I had bad asthma and was severely bullied for not being able to run properly and finishing last in school athletic events. The ad was a hug from the past -- almost making it okay to suck at something, and appreciating the fact that despite limitations, you showed up and you finished the task you started. A decade or so later, I voluntarily took up running, and finished marathons, but I can't help but feel Nike's ad 'giving everyone the permission to suck when starting off' gave me the nudge to run.