Mirinda: #ReleaseThePressure (Ad 2017)

                                                                                 ~ Kolla Krishna Madhavi

"Because happy mind se padhai bhi hoti hai maze se puri, isiliye thodi #Pagalpanti is so zaroori!"

While the exam fever is sweeping the nation and quite a few (including parents and students) are in the grip of Textbooks, Date Lines, Exam Schedules and Hall Tickets, Mirinda Orange's ad highlights students distress during an exam season.

 

     Mirinda Soft Drink
      Image Courtesy: Exchange4Media.com

PepsiCo's India-owned Mirinda #ReleaseThePressure campaign is aimed at both parents and children. The aim is for parents to reduce the pressure on their children while also having fun. The latest ad featuring a boy who offers the flavored sparkling drink to his parents to loosen them up and destress definitely focuses on the product, but also takes an effective swipe at the build-up of parental pressure on children, especially during exams.

Mirinda Soft Drink
  Image Courtesy: ZopNow.com

Although told in jest, with a young teenager making funny faces at the camera while speaking of how his parents and grandmother have cut away all digital connections to help him focus better on his board exams, the ad by BBDO India still strikes a chord. The youth gives a voice to his feelings and advocates the importance of releasing stress and creating those joyful moments even in the midst of serious studies.

                                                                                 #ReleaseThePressure TVC (Hindi) 2017
                                                                                       Video Courtesy: Mirinda India

The campaign is in its ver. 2.0 and is a part of the fizzy orange drink’s larger initiative with Fortis. In India since 1991, the soft drink may have limited nutritional value, but the commercial definitely gives out a very pertinent message to parents. It surely resonates with a significant part of the country's population for whom academic excellence is an important yardstick to measure the worth of a child. Instead of allowing children to flourish naturally at their own pace and help build their self-worth, parents in their zeal to do the best for their children, set some unrealistic benchmarks for them. These expectations can often tilt toward "pressure-to-perform" scales that are tailored for a better societal acceptance.

In a child's journey, parental pressure can be as detrimental as peer pressure.

Homes need to be nurturing havens, not pressure zones for children!

Images Courtesy: Mirinda, BBDO India, Rising Sun Films, Google Images, and other online resources.
Video Courtesy: Mirinda India, BBDO India, YouTube & other online resources.

Note:
***Would be wonderful to hear your thoughts. You're also welcome to share the post or quote from it with appropriate credits, but please do not copy or reproduce this article in any format, device or language (human or machine), either in part or in full, without the explicit written permission of the author. Subject to Copyright @2018.
The author has not been paid or compensated in any form for expressing an opinion.

Disclaimer:
The opinions expressed above are purely personal and as understood and interpreted by the author. They're not to be construed as an expert opinion or a formal analysis or deemed as accurate, valid, suitable or complete information in any form or manner. The reader is requested to use their own judgment and understanding for the same. 

None of the products or features discussed above are necessarily, as stated or endorsed by any of the respective companies.