[Archived] Venky's Advert

[tonyoz]

Might be worth bearing in mind that the Indian advertising genre is quite different from the west; Venky's ad fits in well with what is required there. Plenty of food ads play the good for you card because adequate nutrition is a huge issue. Cadbury's biggest selling brand in India is Bournvita, a Horlicks-type drink, and is marketed on the back of nutrition. So to have an ad showing sportsmen, who need to be fit, eating it and enjoying it makes sense.

At least they didn't burst into song and dance, which is also a commonly-used feature.

Heh heh! wait for the sequel!

[BiggusLaddus]

Don't you see that the ad isn't promoting BRFC it is using BRFC as the comedy vehicle to promote KFCwannabees product ? I would say the adbvert demeans BRFC as comedic, certainly not a set of professional sportsmen! Do you think any of the players in the advert or the club themselves come out of this as marketable commodities in their own right?

Parties at your house must be great.

[chris]

Don't you see that the ad isn't promoting BRFC it is using BRFC as the comedy vehicle to promote KFCwannabees product ? I would say the adbvert demeans BRFC as comedic, certainly not a set of professional sportsmen! Do you think any of the players in the advert or the club themselves come out of this as marketable commodities in their own right?

I bet the players loved doing it, I know I would have.

No point is trying to convince people, I think some find its good old fun and some maybe with less of a sense of humour are offended.

All agree to disagree.

By the way I'm not sure I can make your Chritmas party this year I'm washing my hair.

[Seggie]

I found the sign of the cross gesture offensive to be honest.

I don't get the cross thing as its highly unlikly the players would do such a thing as a squad like in the ad at Rovers. However Im presuming they have put it in as many top recognisable players are often seen doing it such as Kaka also Venky's other Market is South America and if they chose to show the ad there it would be something that an audience there would recognise players in their country do a lot. You have to remember this is not for a British or Northern European audience, the audience it is aimed at comes from a place where organised religion is a massive part of life. I couldn't care less for religion but to state that it is offensive is ridiculous, again to the point of slagging the owners for the sake of it.

[Steve Kean's Hypnotoad]

Don't you see that the ad isn't promoting BRFC it is using BRFC as the comedy vehicle to promote KFCwannabees product ? I would say the adbvert demeans BRFC as comedic, certainly not a set of professional sportsmen! Do you think any of the players in the advert or the club themselves come out of this as marketable commodities in their own right?

Its got a bit of light humour in it but I'd say thats a good thing, if the advert took us ultra-seriously it'd be ridiculed even more. Its not a documentary on the club, its 25 seconds of basic publicity. It shows the players, the facilities, the strip and the name. And a thing to remember is that most people abroad are nowhere near as cynical as we are in this country and social events are based around meals rather than drinking. The players laughing and joking while sharing some food together just makes them look human.

The press were singing the praises of England's under-20s for some awful dancing with Colombian female army troops at an airport. Which is possibly the most bizarre sentence I've ever written on here but true nonetheless. They liked it because it showed footballers aren't robots, this was just aiming for the same thing.

[Nate]

I don't get the cross thing as its highly unlikly the players would do such a thing as a squad like in the ad at Rovers. However Im presuming they have put it in as many top recognisable players are often seen doing it such as Kaka also Venky's other Market is South America and if they chose to show the ad there it would be something that an audience there would recognise players in their country do a lot. You have to remember this is not for a British or Northern European audience, the audience it is aimed at comes from a place where organised religion is a massive part of life. I couldn't care less for religion but to state that it is offensive is ridiculous, again to the point of slagging the owners for the sake of it.

It has nothing to do with slagging the owners off.

Ok, offensive may of been a harsh word, but as a practicing Catholic, I find a sacred gesture such as the sign of the cross used in an advertisement for selling chicken doesn't sit well with me.

[Teacup]

I find a sacred gesture such as the sign of the cross used in an advertisement for selling chicken doesn't sit well with me.

They did it before they ate. It might of been an advert, but trust me, they ate. You really think Dunn could sit there with all that food and.. you know, ignore it?

[booth]

Its got a bit of light humour in it but I'd say thats a good thing, if the advert took us ultra-seriously it'd be ridiculed even more. Its not a documentary on the club, its 25 seconds of basic publicity. It shows the players, the facilities, the strip and the name. And a thing to remember is that most people abroad are nowhere near as cynical as we are in this country and social events are based around meals rather than drinking. The players laughing and joking while sharing some food together just makes them look human.

The press were singing the praises of England's under-20s for some awful dancing with Colombian female army troops at an airport. Which is possibly the most bizarre sentence I've ever written on here but true nonetheless. They liked it because it showed footballers aren't robots, this was just aiming for the same thing.

Summed up perfectly.

First time I saw it I laughed and thought the players didn't take themselves too seriously.

One thing that a lot of people are missing is that it's been made very tongue in cheek. Though a lot of rival fans are pretending they don't know that, to have a laugh at our expense. Pretty obvious that the players were having a laugh doing it. Especially Roberts and Dunn.

[Nate]

They did it before they ate. It might of been an advert, but trust me, they ate. You really think Dunn could sit there with all that food and.. you know, ignore it?

I'm surprised he didn't eat Pedersen as well!

[Teacup]

I'm surprised he didn't eat Pedersen as well!

Aww, come on now, that's a bit harsh

[Sandiway Blue]

Aww, come on now, that's a bit harsh

Not really, he could have said Samba!

[booth]

The biggest disappointment was the lack of any animated chickens

... That and where was Andrews?!?!

[Seggie]

It has nothing to do with slagging the owners off.

Ok, offensive may of been a harsh word, but as a practicing Catholic, I find a sacred gesture such as the sign of the cross used in an advertisement for selling chicken doesn't sit well with me.

Fair enough

It was the use of the word 'offensive' that seemed OTT, as someone who couldnt care less about religion I don't particularly like or get why they did the cross (apart from the market it may eventually be aimed at) but I don't find it offensive. My issue with the wording 'offensive' is that with everything that is going on with the owners at the moment is that its OTT when simply in other circumstances your latter explanation would possibly be what you would be more inclined to say first time round. Im no fan of the owners but the shiteness of the ad made me laugh and its exposed Rovers to a new market which is a good thing. I think some Rovers fans possibly need to take a step back before they criticise the owners instantly when they see something they don't like, try giving the benefit of the doubt with things like this. If come September we have sold Phil Jones and signed no one but Miles Anderson and we have been promised brilliant things thats the time to go all out in slagging them off.

I hope that makes sense had some beer

[Seggie]

The biggest disappointment was the lack of any animated chickens

... That and where was Andrews?!?!

It has better production values than other Indian classics:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5Pjo0WjBcs

[Nate]

It has better production values than other Indian classics:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5Pjo0WjBcs

Now I would of prefered that as an ad with Samba as Superman flying around with Mrs D on his back

[rebelmswar]

Just polled a bunch of people I know most of who care nothing about football.

My youngest daughter felt sorry for Dunn getting his chicken stolen.

My eldest just thought Peds was hot.

My wife said the chicken looked good and the ad was "meh"

Chief Jackson said that "they are lucky that Dunn wasn't a brother." Jackson is black for all of those easily offended.

Snr said that it was as funny as a "scorpian up his ass."

The others said that it would "work"

I say its harmless and will do us no lasting harm.

If Glenn could check I bet hits for "Blackburn Rovers" will have spiked since the outing on youtube and will do so again significantly once it is aired. Snr Chief googled Rovers right after watching it as he couldn't believe such "skinny sum bitches could ever play professional ball." I amended football to the @#/?ized American word. He said " figures"

[sentient]

Just polled a bunch of people I know most of who care nothing about football.

My youngest daughter felt sorry for Dunn getting his chicken stolen.

My eldest just thought Peds was hot.

My wife said the chicken looked good and the ad was "meh"

Chief Jackson said that "they are lucky that Dunn wasn't a brother." Jackson is black for all of those easily offended.

Snr said that it was as funny as a "scorpian up his ass."

The others said that it would "work"

I say its harmless and will do us no lasting harm.

If Glenn could check I bet hits for "Blackburn Rovers" will have spiked since the outing on youtube and will do so again significantly once it is aired. Snr Chief googled Rovers right after watching it as he couldn't believe such "skinny sum bitches could ever play professional ball." I amended football to the @#/?ized American word. He said " figures"

reb.. as much as your research is amusing its about as relevant as squirrel ###### at a squid speed-dating session. as you say yourself most of um care nothing for football or even pro-ball. wtf is that anyway?

[rebelmswar]

reb.. as much as your research is amusing its about as relevant as squirrel ###### at a squid speed-dating session. as you say yourself most of um care nothing for football or even pro-ball. wtf is that anyway?

I think you miss the point.

[Athlete]

Yet you're probably one of these people who quote Jack Walkers "Think Big" motto....

you're probably one of those muppets who still believe in venkys and steve kean....been in work 30 mins sick of the Rovers jokes already

[philipl]

I have watched it 5 times now and I thought it was good the first time I saw it and like it even more now. I think they have done a great job here especially if you think how bad/corny a football team advertising chicken could have turned out.

In my view it does very positive things for both the cooked chicken and the Rovers brands.

Certainly that plate of chicken pieces which becomes visible when the players back off from their huddle looks a million times more appetising than any picture of cooked chicken we see on British TV outside of gourmet cooking programmes (and they cook with more exotic fowl!)

My advice if they are to build on this good start would be to build on the personalities of the Rovers players rather like the Renault ads did with Nicole and her Dad and the Gold Blend couple thinking of incredibly successful ad campaigns of the past.

All successful football brands are a combination of the name, shirt AND the players. This is a great start with Dunn, MGP and Nelsen in particular but the ad campaign should build on this so the consumers are looking forwards to seeing what individual Rovers players did next with their chickens... and I am being absolutely serious.

I bet after that ad campaign runs, the player recognition of MGP as the cheeki chappie guy stealing Dunn's drumstick will be pretty strong.

Building a character-based ad campaign like that could overwhelm the automatic advantage that the Man Us and Chelseas enjoy, particular if Venky's take ad slots during ALL PL games showing in India.

Two further observations- why has it taken them SO LONG to start marketing in India. Just think how Venky's would have won the Rovers fans over if they had done what they had promised back in December and made this advert then? Instead they set about systematically breaking every promise they had ever made to the Premier League, the club, the Walker Trust and the fans.

Secondly, the absence in the ad of players who have been associated with rumours they might be leaving Ewood (Andrews, Samba, Kalinic....)

[Miker]

Can't believe some people are in an uproar about this ad. I think it's just proved that if people want to whinge, they will whinge about anything.

I also can't believe that people are caring what other clubs' fans, like Bolton and Burnley care about this ad. They're all degenerates anyway.

Football players eating chicken - oh no! The humanity! Football players shouldn't be eating delicious chicken, they should be eating fruits and vegetables and protein shakes!!!

C'mon guys, it's just a promotional ad for the club that owns and sponsors our club. It's funny and as an ad is absolutely fantastic, makes the chicken look appealing. What's more is that people that will watch the ad, will love it and they'll be interested in who the players in the video are.

That ad's not embarrassing, what's embarrassing is the distinct lack of humour of some of the people on the board. I imagine you guys are like Frank from Everybody Loves Raymond in real life.

[brian_gallagher85]

Fact is this ad has just has brought Rovers and Venkys a hell of a lot of free advertising on both the likes of Sky and across social media that would otherwise have cost a packet. Remember, no publicity is bad publicity.

As for the ad putting your daughter off Rovers then I wouldn't worry as she sounds just like the fair weather kind of fan that our great club can survive fine without.

Reb, once more I doth my cap

[Miker]

been in work 30 mins sick of the Rovers jokes already

It's called banter... man up and dish some back.

[Derbyshire Blue]

Cant see anything but positives from the ad... especially when you take into account its targeting purely the Indian market.

[Athlete]

It's called banter... man up and dish some back.

At the moment I'm on a loser footy banter wise thanks to the chicken overlords