We’re all guilty of skipping ads thanks to YouTube’s blessed ‘skip ad’ feature that allows you to skip the ad once five seconds are over. If you’ve grabbed the attention of your audience in that five seconds, hooray! But with the volume of ads that are produced today, attacking you from every channel, how many ads manage to catch your eye? Nivea’s ad featuring Anushka Sharma reverses this concept by igniting interest in the viewers by using our disinterest against us. How?
It starts with the common lotion ad script which talks about how the lotion hydrates your skin. Predictable, right? But then Anushka goes on to say “Okay, you can skip the ad. I’m done. No, seriously, I’m done.”
So why then did we not skip the ad? Was it because we saw that there was still 80 seconds left? It could have been the human need to do the opposite of what we’ve been asked to, or well it could just be curiosity. But we know curiosity killed the cat. It’s a popular quote but have you heard the rest of it? Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back. Knowing the latter part of the quote might have convinced us to continue watching the ad. Although, we might have been tempted otherwise too. The combined charm of Anushka and curiosity would have gotten to us.
Anushka goes on then to repeat the ad in French, sings it, does it Bollywood style, and with subtitles. Why are we still watching this? Even Anushka seems confused. “Khallas, Finito,” she says but we’re still watching. “You do remember you came here to watch a video, right?” Oh, yeah, we did! And yet…here we are still watching the ad we could be skipping.
Finally, tired and out of things to say presumably, Anushka is the one to leave. Ah, how the tables have turned. Didn’t see that coming, did we?
Paul Writer’s Take
Ads have to think outside the box if they truly want to gain the attention of their audience. Especially considering that numerous online viewing platforms and social media channels are popular advertising mediums, and constantly bombarding viewers with ads.
Nivea’s ad sells the same product that it has always sold, yet the ad seems to be captivating due to its different tone. While the ad truly doesn’t talk about anything beyond the product, we kept watching. ‘We say no, you say yes!’ Is that Nivea’s new strategy? Well, it sure worked on us! One of their other ads again featuring Anushka Sharma also held our interest till the end using a similar technique.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments!
