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Plain relief or pain relief?

Omnigel India’s latest ad nudges consumers towards choosing a lasting solution for body aches, over momentary relief

The pandemic has normalised working from home. This means more hours spent sitting glued to our laptops and ending every day with a backache. One could take a massage at a spa, but who’d want to risk that? An easier solution would be a pain-relief gel. Cipla Health’s Omnigel ad takes off on this, with their tagline ‘jadd se dard ko mitaana’.

Its latest ad is tongue-in-cheek. Set in a medical store, it shows a customer asking casually for an over-the-counter medicine, for a quick relief from body ache. The shopkeeper hands over a lollipop, saying it will help him forget his pain for a while. The consumer, taken aback, says that he needs something to treat his backache. Then, the shopkeeper offers him a tube of Omnigel, which ‘Jadd se dard ko mitaye’. It is to drive home the point that the gel treats the ache, unlike other products that give a fleeting relief.

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We wondered if drawing parallels with a lollipop will work or whether the joke will overshadow the central message of the film. The communication in this category is usually serious, but we decided to address pain with a little bit of fun and humour, leaving the hard work to the product,” said Varsha Desai, creative group director, Brand David Communications.

This ad is a part of a series, in which different consumers are offered a rattle or even a chilli instead of a salve for their backache. Desai adds that, “We had a hearty laugh even at the editing stage.” The agency roped in a young director who had the sensibility to execute this idea.

Shivam Puri, CEO at Cipla Health, says it is important to educate the consumer without intimidating them. “We took the humorous route to connect with our consumers through real-life situations. We wanted to help them focus on eliminating the root cause of pain. It is important to shift the mind-set from ‘plain’ relief to pain recovery, to spring back in action,” he says.

Production of the 20-second ad took only a month, but the entire project, from conception to production, was completed over six to seven months. It is being aired in eight different languages across TV channels and digital media.