Fevicol

Fevicol was launched in 1959 and has a long history as a brand used exclusively by carpenters. It later moved into the everyday use category. The campaign, developed by Ogilvy & Mather, was initially aired across the country in teaser poster ads and prints. The advertisements are created in the old traditional Indian cinema poster style, with ‘hand painted’ graphics and vivid colors. The ad takes on the form of a mini movie with a father dressing up his daughter as a male character for a skit.
To complete the look, he glues on a moustache with a drop of Fevicol. Unfortunately for his daughter, it stays in place for good. The moustache is with her through good times and bad, until her very last breath. A baby with a moustache is born the moment she passes away as a nod to the concept of reincarnation. Piyush Pandey, executive chairman and CD for South Asia at Ogilvy & Mather was initially tasked to develop a campaign for another brand under the Pidilite umbrella, Fevitite. “Fevitite is too small a brand for a big idea like this.
Take the money all over again and shoot it for Fevicol, and that was the beginning of everything. ” Ogilvy & Mather has turned a brand that does not immediately lend itself to creativity into an advertising legend over the past five decades. Work for the brand has scooped 99 awards over the past twenty years. “To be honest, we didn’t have a clue about the brand aspect when we started out, back then. Piyush happened to us, and I would say 1988-1999 was when the big leap took place,” said Madhukar B Parekh, managing director of Pidilite Industries.