Enkayaar, Bollywood Trade News Network

SAIF ALI KHAN, KAREENA KAPOOR, JOHN ABRAHAM and BIPASHA BASU

When it was experimented in a big way for the first time it had come cropper. The advertisement industry had pulled the bunny out of the bag and had in a coup of sorts brought Amitabh Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan together for endorsing Maruti's new car Versa, neither did the car make an impact nor did the ad. In fact the advertisement when it was subsequently re-released did not show Abhishek Bachchan at all. Those were the early days when advertisements in conjunction using family of films were taking ground.

But during the last one-year advertisements using pair of films stars more so female and male together has really taken off. It is alsofallout of the change in the social realities of the country as well, where it is now ready to accept as couples the pair who might not have been wedded legally. No wonder, Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor have emerged as the power couple in advertising industry, though they are not doing much films together. Again it also is owing to the brand that they are endorsing together, Airtel, which is a brand promoting the cause of communication.

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The first couple in advertisement that started this trend, and were actually together was John Abraham and Bipasha Basu, who were used to convey the message of togetherness about a brand as also about the relationship. The operative psychology in this was the level of comfort that both of them were able to bring in the copy of the advertisement on the screen in a few seconds. When Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor were a couple, they also had been provided this opportunity but the same level of comfort was not visible in the copy so the campaign could not go further.

Saif and Kareena took the level of comfort to a new level even in the campaign and therefore the advertisement is getting new episodes on a regular basis. Airtel had earlier tried to create a couple effect by using Madhavan and Vidya Balan, and it was also able to establish the connect, but it had an element of ephemeral associated with it, so it could not continue infinitum and the perfect replacement was found in Saif and Kareena.

In such a scenario it indeed is surprising that nobody has till date thought of using another power couple Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya in campaigns. Abhishek has walked miles from his Versa days and his Idea campaign is illustrative of the confidence that he has gathered in living the campaign and conveying the message even in few seconds. Another power couple that can be explored by the advertising fraternity is that of Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif, who independently are very successful as brand ambassadors but jointly; do not have any single endorsement to their kitty. These two couples if they are picked up during this time of recession, provided they are able to join the campaign at a discounted price, keeping in view the sentiments of the industry, it could create a new era in Indian advertisement involving film couples.


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