Iconic Ads: Wills Navy Cut – Made for Each Other

ITC’s Wills (Navy Cut) introduced a taste-enhancing filter in 1965, which marked a huge change in product development. Filter-tip cigarettes were designed to be safer as a reaction to medical research that demonstrated the dangers of smoking. HTA was given this brief, which also stated that the filter was a perfect match for a good smoke.

Shiben Dutt penned the famous line on the back of an envelope. The ‘Made for each other’ campaign has gone on to become one of the most well-known and longest-running campaigns.

The functional attributes of the brand blended well with the emotional part.

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The campaigns had the highest recall until cigarette advertising was banned in 2004. The campaign had a theme of a couple having fun – reading a joke book, in the rain etc.

The most famous is the girl reading Larry Wilde’s The Official Polish Joke Book, that is, “Guaranteed to make you laugh! (even if you’re Polish).” The book is a 2-in-1 book, as is evident from the image in the ad

Complementing this, ITC created properties. In 1969, the Wills Made for Each Other contest to select the perfectly matched couple was started. It was like a beauty pageant; one of the winners was tennis player Premjit Lall & his wife.

The changes in the Wills campaign were mostly cosmetic, getting more contemporary by the day. The punchline & theme of a perfect match stayed until the very end