'Do The Man Thing' says the 'Vat man', for Vat 69

The Vat 69 brand from the William Sanderson & Son stable has created an online gaming portal. BBH India has rolled out four films for digital media to promote the portal, which has been created in collaboration with Ogilvy One, Vat 69's digital agency partner.

The films underscore the brand's 'Do The Man Thing' philosophy.

They centre around a protagonist whose demeanour reminds you of the suave villians of 70's Bollywood. The part is played by Cyrus Oshidar, creative director, Bawa Advertising. He is purportedly 'the wise man, nice man', and ultimately, 'the Vat man'. He hears out the apprehensions of modern men and lends a unique street smart solution, thereby advising them to 'Do The Man Thing'. For instance, to a man who is bothered about his competitor's better dressing sense, his answer is that some of the bravest men in history wore skirts, and couldn't care less about their dressing sense when they were busy making history.

WATCH the other three online films from the campaign here:

Russell Barrett, managing partner, BBH India, said, "Vat 69 is a brand born out of competition. The 69th Vat won over the remaining 99 and that's how the brand got its name. In India, the only memory we had of this brand was through Bollywood movies of the 70s."

On the creative execution, he added, "These films are set in the den of a protagonist straight from an era long gone. In these films, the Vat man lets the modern man know what he thinks of their problems. It's an ironic  take on the issues and problems that men may have these days, but from the point of view of a man from a whole other time. A time when men wrestled bears and tamed dragons for fun. It's an ironic take on the spirit of competition and the online portal is a reflection of this very same spirit."

Unplugged moments:

Barrett shared a few anecdotes from the three-day shoot at Yash Raj Studios. He said, "Ayappa, the director, realised that we could use the brilliant sets, Cyrus Oshidar (the Vat man), the cast and the time we got between films. So, we wrote a number of shorter films on the spot and got people from the agency, the production unit and the client himself (Malay Dixit) to act in them. These films are not yet produced, but are pure magic."

Credits:

Client: Diageo India
Client contacts: Malay Dikshit, Ashish Asati
Agency: BBH India
Executive creative director: Russell Barrett
Copywriter: Russell Barrett, Ashish Pathak, Nrusingha Choudhury, Malhaar Rao
Art director: Kunal Sawant, Ashish Pathak, Ganesh Nayak
Account manager: Arvind Krishnan
Account supervisor: Rajeev Roy, Monideepa Nandi
Account planner: Sanjay Sharma
Agency producer: Sushma Joseph
Production house: Footcandles Film
Director: Ayappa
Executive producer: Anand Menon
Producer: Amarjeet Phukan
Director of photography: Jason West
Production designer: Suzanne Caplan Merwanji