Many Indian car ads feature young car owners take leisure rides with their girlfriend or wife. You know the visual where the girl assuredly rests her head on the man's shoulders. Yeah, that's because the guy bought the car, apparently. However, in Maruti Suzuki Estilo's Come Alive ad, we see a crash test dummy doing it. A crash test dummy that's used to test collision impacts on cars as they crash head-on into walls at 100 kmph. The researchers then skip over to see how badly the dummies got mangled. So, I'd say making an ad with a protagonist that's as purposeful as an inanimate chicken is not a good idea. Especially since the handsome car owner is supposed to represent the target audience.
I can see how smarmy the concept planners must've felt when they pitched to the client, "We'll use 'Come Alive' as a tagline because the car is so amazing it brings dummies to life". Notice how excited the dummy is to be riding the car as he motions his fist jubilantly. He's not taking the car out for a joyride. He's trying to get the hell away from the place that's going to crash him into a wall. And thankfully he's smarter than a chicken. Most chickens they just peck away at the floor when they're let out of the poultry cage. I always wondered why they never make a run for it. Our friend meets an attractive lady dummy on the way. We're not sure whether she is really pretty because she doesn't have a face. The final shot has her leaning her head on his shoulders and we know why. A happy ending whew.
I'm never buying a Maruti Suzuki Estilo.
