P & G Creative Advertisement “Not a Kaccha Nimbu, 20 years of P&G Shiksha” that almost Misses the Mark!

Today, while I was walking back from class, my colleague Dr. Himabindu Madam called my attention to a rather unusual advertisement. She said, "Sir, you must definitely write a blog post about this one!" I’m always grateful when colleagues like her recognize my habit of writing about the odd and interesting things that happen in the world of marketing.

An Ad That Stood Out—But Only When Pointed Out by my colleague: This ad was published in The Times of India, and it caught her attention — but not mine when I did browse the same newspaper in the morning. It said:

Change of Name “I Kaccha Nimbu son of Amit Kumar and Jasawanthi Kumari, resident of Phoolpur Jilla, Pimpidi Tehsil, Pin 404181 – have changed my name and will hereafter be known as Bikas Kumar,– Scan know my story."

On scanning the QR code, I was taken to a YouTube video of P & G’s “Not a Kaccha Nimbu (unripe lemon), 20 years of P&G Shiksha”,  where the story of Amit Kumar unfolds — as someone who was once mocked or teased as a child but has now risen above it all to become a successful individual. He has rewritten his narrative and wants the world to know about it. An inspiring concept, no doubt!

 The Idea is Brilliant, But Execution? That said, there are three points I feel strongly about.

First, the execution didn’t do justice to the concept. When I saw the ad in the newspaper earlier, I didn’t even pause—it looked like one of those “name change” notices and didn’t grab my attention at all. Had Dr. Himabindu madam not told me, I might have missed it completely. That’s a big miss for an ad that’s trying to spark curiosity.

Second, the size and placement of the ad left a lot to be desired. It was not very big —barely noticeable. If the goal was to make an impact, the ad should have been at least a quarter or half-page. A catchy headline or a bold lead-in could have helped generate more interest. As it stands, it was too easy to skip.

The Video: A Bit Too Long. Also worth mentioning is the length of the YouTube video. At 2 minutes and 41 seconds, it felt longer than necessary. In today’s age of short attention spans, a tighter version under a minute could have had a much stronger effect—concise, punchy, and to the point.

Closing Thought: To sum it up, a wonderful idea that deserved better packaging. In marketing, especially with storytelling campaigns, grabbing attention is half the battle. And in this case, a little more thought in design, placement, and video duration could have turned a good idea into a truly memorable campaign.

Keywords: Marketing, Advertisement, Print Ad, QR Code, YouTube Campaign, Brand Storytelling, Ad Execution, Newspaper Ad, Creative Campaign, Amit Kumar Ad, P&G, Video Marketing, Viral Ads. 

 Hashtags:#MarketingInsights #CreativeAdvertising #BrandStorytelling #PrintAds #QRCodeMarketing #YouTubeCampaign #AdvertisingStrategy #PandG #MarketingFails #ViralAds #AdAnalysis #MarketingBlog

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