Advertisement and The Wonder Years

One of my earliest memories of a cherished TV advertisement dates back to Aamir Khan’s Pepsi ad. It was released in the early 90s (may be 1991) where he enacted the role of a typical chocolate boy trying to woo a girl in the middle of the night by running around in search of Pepsi. In true Bollywood style he dives, glides and slides to find a bottle of Pepsi. But even before he could enjoy his success he is confronted with the stunning Sanjana (Aishwarya Rai) and this is what follows,

Ash: “I’m Sanjana, Got another Pepsi??”

Aamir: Sure!!

I was 7 or 8 years old and had watched Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak over and over again in cable tv and by the time this ad came out I was already a devoted Aamir fan.

Over my years of growing up the one constant factor in my life is the unswerving loyalty to MAGGI Noodles. Maggi ads were just the perfect family ones where kids would run home hungry and the mom would say “Bas Do Minute”. Voila! in two minutes they were served a yummy bowl of vegetable noodles. 

P.S. My sister and I used to ask amma to not break the noodles so that we could slurp it one noodle at a time.

I grew up in a very hot place in northern india. Every summer amma used to stack up packets of Rasna and guess who was in charge of the preparation? MOI!! The very first step was to tie the Rasna girl ponytail high up in the middle of my head. My 10 month old niece carries forward the Chithi (aunt) tradition well, back then it was called Rasna hairstyle and now we call it Thenga Naaru (coconut husk). After several minutes of mixing sugar and water (phew) came the fun part- mix the color powder and color liquid into it. Oh, I was so proud of making the perfect Rasna for the entire family, quite a responsibility at such a young age.

I was never a milk loving person (almost lactose intolerant). Mom used to force feed me Complan. Hate to say it but I loved the Complan ads, this is what I found. When I read the video details I was amazed to find Shahid Kapoor and Ayesha Takia in it saying “I am a Complan girl and I am a Complan boy” with so much conviction. I must also mention the “Dhoodh doodh” ad (Click here). And no matter what they say “Dhood was and still is not so wonderful”.

Then there was my most favorite “Cadbury” ads. Kuch Khaas Hai Hum Sabhi Mein!! What better way to win the Indian viewers than by a Cricket ad (Click here). Mom used to find this one cute. This one is a Must see, one of the older Cadbury ads and it made me so nostalgic.

There was a wonderful Dhara ad with a small boy running with excitement among food items and a big poori following him; it just amused me to see pooris that big. When I was little older there was this very cute Dhara ad where a kid runs away from home only to be tempted back with “Garama garam jalebis” by a lovable Ramu kaka.

There were some which will stay with me forever because of their one liners,

Surf (Deepikaji ad): Agar itni saari safedi yadee kaam dam me mile to koi yeh kyun le, yeh na le.

Vicco: Vicco turmeric, nahi cosmetic, Vicco turmeric ayurvedic cream.

Narasus Coffee: Idhu dhaan naan edhar parthein.

Mango frooti: Mango frooti fresh and juicy. This was later replaced with the annoying “Digen Verma” ads.

Bajaj: Hamara Bajaj (Click here).

Vicks: Vicks ki Goli lo khich khich door karo (Click here).

Fevicol: Fevicol ka jod hai toote ga nahi (Click here).

Parle G: Swaad Bare Shakthi Bare Parle Gi (Click here).

Amul: Utterly Butterly Delicious...Amul.

Recollecting these ads brought back some memories of my wonderful childhood. It has made my day hope it makes yours!! Did I mention that I Heart YOU TUBE???