Legacy Narrators

Books aren’t the only places where stories reside. We all have stories to share. The story of how we grew up listening to our grandma’s folk tales, or the story of how our fathers reacted when he caught us smoking or even the story of how your mother had the habit of documenting dates on photographs since cameras those days didn’t have that option. The magnitude of the story doesn’t really matter, as each story deserves to be heard.

Stories build us and we build stories believes HarperCollins and it has launched a commercial to celebrate its 25^th year in India, which also coincides with its 200^th year of existence. The ad is an ode to the legacy that has been created by the publication. The ad begins with an old man reading a book on a bus, only to leave it behind, which then gets picked up by a young girl.

Conceptualised by Taproot Dentsu, the ad symbolises how men and women are entwined in their own stories. “There are stories that exist outside the books too. I thought what if a book was to create a story?” says creative head Titus Upputuru, summing up the brief outlined to him. “Ananth wanted a film that celebrated books, and which described their passion for storytelling. With 200 years of history, we needed to do something that was special and the journey became a good metaphor,” adds Upputuru.

HarperCollins is involving readers through various mediums, says Ananth Padmanabhan, CEO. “We are using this film to drive readership. This is a first-of-its-kind initiative by an Indian publisher,” he says. With more ads lined up, the narration has just begun.

Take a look at this moving advertisement here.