Web film: Edeka – Time to come home
By Malay Desai From:Germany, by Jung von Matt Supermarket corporation Edeka in November end launched a commercial which has since gone viral. It’s a short tale of an old man living alone and failing to see any of his family members home on Christmas. After shots of him having dinner alone interspersed by telephone messages of the family being busy, he fakes his death. On receiving the communication, his kin across the world are shocked and gather together, leaving their busy lives. Upon reaching, they find the old man alive, and asking ‘How else could I have brought you all together?’ Why we Like? The last time I featured the German agency Jung von Matt, it was the first ever column here. Over four years later, I’m glad to report Matt is max-sized now, handling biggies such as Mercedes, Vodafone and Nike and still retaining the ability to tell a tale with a punch. Homecoming as a central idea has been around from the early days of Coca-Cola, and it often leads to simple tearjerker ideas featuring children, hostelite students, soldiers and assorted characters. But do tearjerkers, with their big budgets and emotional punchlines, work anymore? They may get viral, but are they memorable? Well, this one just might be both. Edeka, a sort of a Big Bazaar with more class is Germany’s giant corporation, having over 4,000 stores. Why would a supermarket brand, the epitome of urban consumerism, want to spend large funds in films that say nothing about their brands, or services, or hygiene, or offers? Short answer – to ‘not’ appear as the epitome of urban consumerism. The motive is to show heart, and what better an occasion to do that than the Diwali of the West? More so, what better a character than a frail old man, who cooks for all but eventually dines alone. Cue – global sigh of ‘aww’ – tears loaded. Next thing we know, he arranges his funeral, and expectedly, the loving-but-busy family rushes in. The climax, when he appears and just says what he does, cue ‘global sigh of aww x 10’ – tears fire! Backed by a specially composed song to guarantee sustained tears, this film is complete, the JVM should be celebrating an early X’mas already. It’s been the talk on social networks worldwide, and thanks to the early timing, will be in the buzz until the next three weeks. Will Germans head more to Edeka than other chains after this? No, but those who are already going, will feel better to be shopping with a corporation that has a soft corner for old people. Or kids. Or maybe it just has a big budget. Does Big Bazaar have a big advertising budget? Yes. Will it invest in an ad which tells an emotional story and fortifies its image rather than explicitly nailing its ‘5 per cent discount on aloo/pyaz’ in our faces? Let’s hope it does! (To watch this commercial, enter ‘bit.ly/Dec7ad in your browser) Social Newsfeed Your regular dose on the shifts in the social media universe Zuck is ‘the other’ 1 per cent now? There is the ‘global takeover’ side of Mark Zuckerberg and then there is the personal side. The Facebook co-founder, a few months back had revealed that his wife Priscilla had had three miscarriages and yet they were bracing for a fourth try. Last week, he became the father of one of perhaps one of the luckiest girls in the world, Maxima, i.e. Max. With the arrival came a letter, in which Zuck Papa wrote about making the world a better place in a very American yet endearing way. News is, the man and his wife will donate 99 per cent of their FB shares, i.e. 45 billion USD to charity. He will retain majority voting rights. That’s a huge commitment from a guy who’s just 32, and sets just the right example for young CEOs. Will the birth of a child fundamentally change one of this century’s greatest businessmen? Priscilla Chan likes this About FB’s new live-streaming feature After limiting the new live-streaming feature only to verified accounts, Facebook has further let it out. Last week, it announced that ‘Live’ will begin rolling out to a small percentage of people in the US, who have iPhones (why are we not surprised? What’s the use of your friendship, Mr Modi?). Reportedly, it’s going to appear as a ‘live video’ option in status updates, and the rest has been modelled on other streaming apps Periscope (by Twitter) and Meerkat. Once live, the viewers would be able to comment real time and the videos will end up sticking up your timeline after you’re done broadcasting. I’d still prefer Periscope, but I know this should have a big impact. Meerkat likes this Bollywood actresses dominate Instagram So I knew there would definitely be a name or two of a Bollywood actress if someone rated the top followed Instagram accounts in India, but I didn't expect the top five to be ALL actresses. DeepikaPadukone, with her 4.5 million followers is on top, of course thanks to regular releases and sharing of exclusive promotional content around them. At number two is Alia Bhatt and I’d like to credit that to three things – cuteness, cuteness and cuteness. Priyanka Chopra, owing to her Quantico-fied candid moments, gets 4 million followers but the next two, Shraddha Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor are surprises, I feel. I’d love to see a food blogger up there, or wait, a sportsman. C’mon Indian Instagrammers, let’s have varied tastes. Sonam Kapoor likes this
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