Kick The Butt

You promise yourself that this will indeed be your last drag of smoke. It is fine for a couple of days until you give in to the impulse again. An instant satisfaction maybe, but also an added strain to your relationships in its wake. Quitting smoking is a rocky road and Nicotex brings to screen this very familiar struggle through one such addict's voice. “She just didn’t understand. She’s not a smoker,” says the man helplessly of his wife who pesters him to quit.

Unlike previous ads, where guilt and emotion compel a smoker to quit, this commercial portrays a realistic picture of a smoker's struggle. According to Anshul Mishra, category director (Nicotex), Cipla, the TVC was an attempt to nab into the mindset of both the smoker and those around him. “Quitting smoking is a lonely personal journey. It is a constant struggle comprising repeated attempts, and unsettled emotions. But support from parents, spouses, and friends is important. However, many times these attempts are misunderstood as a mere lack of intent,” she says.

But a smoker’s personal struggle is only one side of the story, as despicted in this short ad film. Anuraag Khandelwal, executive creative director, Soho Square explains that it is as much about understanding a non-smoker, who pushes them to quit. “Cipla does a lot of work at the backend to understand the mindset of the smoker, or a smoker who is on the edge of quitting, and going cold turkey is not the easiest solution. In this ad, we wanted to emphasise that smoking actually causes contention both ways. A smoker understands that for a non-smoker, it will be difficult to understand their mindset,” he says.

An earlier Nicotex TVC captured a similar theme where a friend reminisced about his strained relationship with his wife and daughter – but he just couldn’t quit. Of course, this time, you get a closure that using Nicotex helped bridge the gap between the husband and wife. And oh, did it feel better! “A smoker who wants to quit is constantly in a battle with his cigarette, sometime he wins, sometimes the cigarette does & Nicotex helps him get an upper hand in this battle,” Mishra adds. So the next time you or someone you know wants to kick the butt, you know what to buy instead.