Iconic Ads – Hero Honda Pleasure – Why Should Boys Have All the Fun?
A lot of girls missed out on fun when they were young. That’s why the line “Why should boys have all the fun?” appeals to the heart.
Pleasure was the first foray for the erstwhile Hero Honda to get into the scooters market. From a product construct point of view, it was a 100cc light scooter and zippy since it was light.
Initially, the target audience was not fixed as there was a split opinion that scooters by definition were used by all members of the family. Focusing on the female audience was not ruled out either.
Till then, the most popular line associated with scooters was Hamara Bajaj, squarely positioning scooters in the WE space. Hence scooters as a category had not yet entered the I space.
Being a research-driven agency, FCB Ulka spoke to all audiences and zeroed in on females. Then it narrowed it further to college going girls.
The insight stemmed from group discussions where many girls felt that boys have way more fun as girls as do not have a pair of wheels to call their own. Of course, over some time, Ulka kept going back to get more granular insights.
The first film was a jingle based montage film that captured girls of all age groups. It also captured the essence of the brand beautifully.
The second phase was about sharpening the insight to bring alive the conflict which resided in the line “Why should boys have all the fun”. . From independence to equal rights.
Boys are the favoured lot in a culture where a girl kid is seen as a “Paraya Dhan.” They get to have a good time and are rarely questioned.
Sridhar Iyer, one of the key members of the Ulka team says “Priyanka Chopra, the heartthrob of teenagers, then was roped in as brand ambassador, and we took a radical position. For the first time through our TVC when we realized girls hated being put up as a showpiece for boys to accept or reject them”.
He also acknowledges the client Hero Honda. He says “A less brave client would have probably rejected the whole premise as too controversial but fortunately for us, Hero Honda became the idea’s champion and consumer research reinforced our collective faith”.
Priyanka, who plays a village girl, takes a pompous potential groom from the city on her Pleasure riding around the fields before dropping him off at the station and ordering him to get back on the train. It’s a message of female empowerment, speaking directly to the hearts of women who believe they have no choice in their marriages.
At a personal level, Sridhar still remembers being at a wedding when an acquaintance who was discussing ads said he loved the way Priyanka put the guy in his place. “Kya Ghooma Phira Ke Dimaage Thikaney Pe Laga Diya.” This was coming from a layman not associated with either the advertising or the marketing fraternity!
The ‘Real Magic’ is in the articulation of the line that came from Indira Das, Creative Head, FCB Ulka Bangalore. It was inspired by her childhood wherein she felt that a lot of her friends missed out on the kind of independence she had experienced during her childhood. That’s why the line “Why should boys have all the fun?” appeals to the heart.
The first execution was carried out by Sharad Mathur in Account Management, & Manish Barodia from Creative. The groundwork for the second film too was done by Sharad but he left mid-way and the onus of taking forward the task to its completion fell on Sridhar’s shoulders. Anurag Bhalla was the Creative brain behind the iconic TVC.
Dibakar was roped in as the director. His subtle touches lifted the film to the next level.
Sridhar still feels that the huge credit should go to Indira for coming up with the line. That one single statement decided the course of execution in the years to come. And that single statement is what drove the brand into a differentiated space. Take the line away and it is just another scooter!
Hero Honda also launched 21 ‘For Her’ showrooms, operated and managed by women. Furthering the women cause. Within a year of its launch, Pleasure touched the sales figure of 92,000 and captured a market share of 7.5%. It was also termed the fastest growing scooter in the 75-125cc category.
Special thanks to Sridhar Iyer for delving on each and every aspect of the making of the ads.
