Snacking Done Right

One of the many fascinating aspects of Indian languages is the speaker’s ability to rhyme words and form collective nouns. The rhyming word is nonsensical by itself, but together, it sounds wholesome. Why say tikki when you can say tikki-shikki? It exudes warmth and an informal vibe and still gets the message across. Amul, however, says a strict ‘no’ to this trend in its latest TVC to promote Amul’s range of snacks, Happy Treats.

 Snacking, according to the brand, is serious business and as one of the characters points out, there’s no place for mindless expressions and descriptions when referring to Amul’s Happy Treats. RS Sodhi, MD, GCMMF (Amul) says, “We observed that when people speak about snacks, they usually pair it with a rhyming word or slang. We had to hit home the idea that Amul Happy Treats make for serious snacking because of the goodness of its ingredients and assurance of quality.”

 Clearly then, you cannot say burger-shurger or even paratha-sharatha to describe either of the products. But that’s not all. Amul wants to turn everyone’s favourite snacking habit, rather binge-eating, into a healthy activity. FCB Ulka’s CEO Nitin Karkare explains, “During our research, we found that consumers are more particular about what they eat during meals but they are more casual when it comes to snacks. If we were to change mindsets, our approach had to be different. And for this, we shifted the lens from mindless eating to mindful eating.”

To make this possible, Amul’s ready-to-eat frozen snacks had to be positioned as a healthy snacking option. And to create such an image, the focus on words is rather natural. So next time you’re reaching out to grab a snack, watch out for what you're picking and more importantly, what you're calling it.