Eularie's blog: Does Classmate want school kids to mate?

Just when I was about to end the working week and look forward to what the weekend has in store, I came across this ad.

 

When it's one that's conceptualised by Ogilvy, I look forward to it. They usually know how to make an ad out of any category, extraordinary or vanilla. 

 

So, I opened this film rolled out by ITC Classmate for its brand ‘Classmate Hook Ball Pen’. It begins with a couple of young boys in school, sitting on the staircase with their books. As they’re engrossed doing their own thing, a girl is seen walking up to them and asking them for a pen. While one of the boys confidently says 'of course' and aggressively searches for a pen, the girl laughs at him, whereas the other boy flips his Classmate notebook and twirls out a pen from it, which gets hooked onto the spiral binding of the notebook. 

 

The boy then hands the pen over to the girl, as she writes her name down in the book and remarks ‘smooth’. 

 

Simple, right? But wait, the catchphrase is yet to come. The film ends with a voice-over saying ‘Classmate ka naya hook pen, ab pen dhoondna nahi padhega’ (Classmate’s new hook pen, now you won’t have to search for a pen). It goes on to say ‘Aapne kaha hook Kia?’ (Where did you hook?) 

 

 

Now, there are multiple ways of reading into this film. But, where does one’s mind go, when the storyline begins with two boys trying hard to impress a girl, flirtatious eye contact when the girl says ‘smooth’ - not certain if it was hinted at the pen, or at the boy. 

 

Ambiguity might work for a lot of brands that want to say something, but leave some space for justification, should a question of character arise. 

 

Even then, is it okay for brands promoting education and its products to leave such blanks about what their messaging is? 

 

What is the brand trying to say with this film? Is it a possibility that young girls are imbecilic enough to ‘hook up’ because the opposite gender offers a gesture of kindness - as simple as lending a pen?

 

Besides, is it funny to be punny in ads belonging to categories like these which might actually influence young kids at a time these products are most relevant? (given the ongoing examinations) 

 

I can imagine the teams of Classmate and Ogilvy brainstorming together on this one. Even then, I’m curious to know whose idea it was more. 

 

Let’s cut them some slack and fill in all the grey areas. What do you think is the message the brand is trying to send here?