Surf Excel bridges social distancing in its film for Holi

Surf Excel has released its Holi film for 2021. The film looks to address the emotional need of connecting with loved ones with a heart-warming story featuring a young child wanting to play Holi with an elderly man called Rancho.

 

Conceptualised by Carlos Pereira, the film shows the boy figuring a way out to play a socially distant Holi with the man.  It signs off with the message, ‘jo dilon ko paas laaye, woh rang achhe hain’ (colours that bring hearts together are good).

 

Prabha Narasimhan, executive director and VP – home care , South Asia, Hindustan Unilever, said, “Holi is one of the biggest and most loved festivals in our country and we have been able to create a strong emotional connect with our audiences through our Holi campaigns in the last two years. This year is a bit different as we are all still reeling from the effects of the pandemic, which has created both physical and emotional distances. Addressing the emotional needs of the vulnerable segment of population, the ad shows how a young boy endeavours to include the elderly in the festive fervor through a simple yet creative way of making colors reach where hands cannot. It is a natural extension of our brand philosophy of ‘daag achhe hain’, in which we have always shown children getting dirty while doing good deeds and demonstrating good values. We do hope that people are inspired to find their own unique ways to connect with their families this festive season."

 

Carlos Pereira, creative director, said, “The campaign continues to build on the theme of how 'Holi colours can bring people together'. But this year, given the new rules of engagement due to the pandemic, it was important to also showcase how Holi can be celebrated in a responsible manner. The campaign reflects on how colours can be a medium for fostering emotional togetherness, even though there may be physical distance between us.”

 

The campaign went live on 1 March across TV, digital and outdoor media. 

 

CREDITS:

 

Client: HUL

Executive director and VP – home care, South Asia: Prabha Narasimhan 

VP – fabric care: Vipul Mathur

Brand manager - Surf Excel: Aarthy Sridhar

Brand executive - Surf Excel: Ayush Sachdeva

Agency: Carlos Pereira

Creative director: Carlos Pereira

Account management: Megha Bansal

Production house: Absolute Productions

Director: Vasan Bala

Executive producer: Prafull Sharma

Producer: Sadhya Vyas