As the loveable Amul girl turns 50, Rahul daCunha talks about her origins and why the ad agency tends to steer clear of religion and godmen. By Jigyasu Joshi
Delivering playful, irreverent, timely reflections of what’s on the nation’s mind, the iconic blue-haired girl in a polka dot dress, we see in Amul butter’s ads, have been tweaking India’s powers-that-be for 50 years. The lovable little moppet sells the butter with a dollop of satire on the side. Rahul daCunha, creative head of the Mumbai-based advertising agency that has handled the Amul account since 1965, talks about the origins of the Amul girl, inheriting the legacy from his father, noted ad-man Sylvester daCunha, why the agency tends to steer clear of religion and godmen, and the need to have their ear to the ground at all times. Excerpts from an interview:
Amul girl at 50. No change of get-up with the blue hair and spotted dressIJ What is it about her that so comforts us, enough to let her be and not yield to the pressure of reinventionIJ She never gets a makeover, does sheIJ
No she can’t. Because India doesn’t want her to change. See, I feel the country want some things should remain as they are. This girl is everybody’s daughter and everybody has accepted her in this way. And as a fact that she is a cartoon character, kind of makes her ageless. So in all these years, she is still the same sweet three dimensional kid.
In a sense, she has been the top commentator of a nation in change and has shaped as well as been influenced by public discourse. In the digital age and given the noise of extreme voices in the social media space, even television, how does she manage to get heardIJ
I think this is because nobody is saying what she is saying. Bottom line is that she gets away with things that others can’t get away with. But I often get this question that why does the Amul girl not get angryIJ So I often say that she is the voice of nation and speaks what the people want to say. like every Monday morning, I discuss about the current topics, which we can play for the week, with my team. We come across number of things. We feel happy about few things, we celebrate some things, while there are certain things that makes us angry. So we need to keep a balance of all that because the Amul girl doesn’t speak our views. Regardless of what my opinion is about anything, the Amul girl should be fair and easy. She is, afterall, the voice of the nation. Also, that’s why people love her.
She has commented on everybody and issues. How difficult or easy has it been to negotiate tricky territories like religious fundamentalism, terrorism and caste violenceIJ
It is very difficult. Honestly speaking, religion in its present form is something that we kind of stay away from. Fundamentalism is a territory where you can’t win and can’t have an argument about. These bhakts and anonymous narrow thinkers, who operate to just make things more complicated, makes us want to not enter much into these areas. And also because it is pointless to say anything that creates disturbance. Religion in these times has become extreme. Especially when it has crossed hands with politics. It is no more fun. We comment about something which is fun and brings smile. It is not like one is fearful about these things. like the Amul girl have got the blessings from the Congress and Mr. Modi and everybody else but it is her job to keep things light.
So one thing that me and my team never lose sight of while writing something for the Amul girl is that we have to make people smile and nothing else. There are times when something sad happens and we deal with it in the most respectful sense but most of the times we think like, ‘Hello country. let’s smile about this thing.’
What has been the greatest moment in the Amul girl’s lifeIJ
Before her, I would like to say that what has been my greatest moment with the Amul girl. It is that even after all these years, she is still relevant to one and all. I feel joyous about the fact that people from all walks of life enjoy what she says. And for Amul girl I would say that the social media has come to her as a blessing. It is because of the social media that we can say lot many things that we couldn’t have said in the past. Also, it helps us reach a large number of people. like if I speak about Delhi, there is just one billboard in a city that huge. So how do I appeal to the DelhiitesIJ So it is through the social media only that we can reach to one and all.
Why was she conceived as a girl by your fatherIJ Any idea as to how she was conceivedIJ
You see girls are always cuter than boys. This is a fact (laughs). There was also an Amul boy but then he wasn’t as popular as her. Also, back then in 1964, when my father first conceived her, they wanted to do something that appeal to kids. Also since that time there was no television, so the challenge was that how to show it to people and outdoor was the best option. like people can see a cute girl with blue hair and polka dots frock and simply smile at her presence.
Carrying on from your father and now your own legacy, what are the challenges for keeping her agelessIJ
I think rather than keeping her ageless, the challenge is how to maximise her presence. It is challenging for us to reach to such a large population. But yes again I think we now have social media to our rescue and we try to utilise it as much as we can. Tech is a big thing.
In one of your interviews, you have said that she continues to be hand-drawn and paintedIJ Is this a deliberate strategy to keep her above her contextual identityIJ
She is not hand painted in the medium. But she is hand painted in the agency and then digitalised. The reason is that as a country we still respond to cartoons. Perhaps unlike any other, our tradition about the simplicity of crayons and simplicity of colours has great relevance in this country. It is through cartoons that seriousness of any topic is brought down to its child-like form.
Amul really doesn’t need to be promoted as a brand anymore. To the extent that the Amul girl is a brand in her own right and can run a franchise. How is she, therefore, still relevant as a brand mascot. Or has she become a daily fix like laxman’s common manIJ
I think now over the years, it has become a common fix. She has become a part of our DNA. You look for her as what she is going to say and it’s interesting that there is a sense of entitlement and a sense of proprietorship that a common on any social media still looks for her. One interesting thing happened with me when the IPl stared in 2008 and there were these cheer leaders. So I dressed the Amul girl in a short skirt and next day people were like “What the hell is wrong with youIJ It’s the Amul girl and why have you dressed her up in a short skirtIJ” and stuff like that. I was like, okay I am sorry. And next day she was back in her polka dots and everybody was happy. (laughs)
Who do her lines in this day and ageIJ What is the frequency of a new storyboardIJ How quickly does the artwork show up at all displays.
There is a team of three. There is writer Manish Javeri, cartoonist Jayant Rane and myself. And there are five displays a week.
Does she have a Twitter handleIJ
No but I think she should as a commentator.
Having handled a mascot as successful as her why is it that advertising couldn’t sustain other mascots like Air India’s Maharaja, Asian Paints’s Gattu or even the post liberalised Fido of PepsiIJ What went wrong with these charactersIJ
I am a huge fan of mascots. Be it any for that matter. But when there is a cycle of change that happens, whether on the creative or the client level, the actual piece of work doesn’t shows up. Because I believe that interference is clearly a sign of ego. Everybody wants to put their mark on the product and in that process, art takes a back seat and things ruin. We have been really lucky in this sense as the team at Amul believes in us. The great Dr. Verghese Kurien gave my father the independence of driving the campaign, they showed complete trust in us and it continues till date. This is one of the major reasons that Amul girl is still there.
Finally, she is one mascot who has never bowed to other celebrities. Do we see her back on TV in an animated version like the “utterly butterly delicious” breaksIJ
She is on TV but not so much as a commentator but as a brand promoter.