#CWC15 Cricket World Cup 2015: It's All Commercial Game

How closely are you watching the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015? INNLIVE gives you a lowdown on all the ads buzzing around the grand event.

Face it. You got interested in the Cricket World Cup 2015 after yesterday’s match. Opening day, England lost to Australia by 111 runs, but you were probably busy getting wedded by the Hindu Mahasabha. You may be excused. 

Maybe those Modi tweets to our players stirred things up a little. But then we were all too busy deciding where to watch the main match of the entire tournament, tickets of which were sold out in 20 minutes flat, a year ago. 

There were many things one takes away from the India vs. Pakistan match on Sunday. No, the Pakistan cricket team did not confuse the match with a glow party. Yes, our men in blue primarily play for trophies. And my favourite – every product company advertising during the World Cup tweaks their strategy a little to include the much spoken about elephant in the room.

This is honestly the only time where every family puts their remote controls away and wholeheartedly watches everything Star Sports throws at them. Each replay is relished, each spectator checked out and each commercial keenly watched. Twitter has been abuzz with match commentary all of Sunday, maybe surpassing election 2014 traffic on the social network. We take a look at the clever, bearable and atrocious offerings from the world of advertising.

Fevikwik: They got it right. It is a friendly ad with fine actors, portraying an amicable bond between the playing nations. The reaction shots given by the actors are fabulous. It goes to prove that excitement for an event like this can be created without animosity. We approve.

Sony Bravia: The “most colourful experience” ad with children and cricketers and um, colour. Quite annoying after the first one or two times of viewing, the kids start looking unnecessary, the cricketers are merely jumping around and the ad itself seems like a last-minute attempt. In the end, it screens in bold: Be Moved. You want to ask how.

Lays: It’s not Dhoni or Kohli’s World Cup. It’s Ranbir Kapoor’s. That man pops up on the television screen more often than a meme on Twitter. One ad with the gorgeous Lisa Haydon where he tricks her into letting him off to watch the match, one with Pankaj Kapoor and one general cricket-themed ad. All three work because his face is plastered on screen. We believe Lisa Haydon deserved much better. Message conveyed: what message? They have Ranbir Kapoor.

Saavn:  Yes, they got Ranbir too. And they have managed to fit Valentine’s Day and the World Cup in one ad and failed miserably. Ranbir tries. He smiles, enunciates and brings a hurricane of energy on screen. The ad still doesn’t make sense.

Adidas: The only ad we caught that had a player from the Indian Cricket Team. This and MRF. Both had Virat Kohli. Clearly the man of the tournament for Team India, Adidas managed a routine commercial. Kohli gave those menacing looks. Motivational music played in the background. ‘Adidas’ popped up 4348349389 times on screen.

Yatra.com: To be fair, they got in the Australia angle to their ad. Soothing music played to the backdrop of major architectural wins of Australia.

In the parallel world of ads that didn’t conform: Watch carefully. Even the Philips trimmer doesn’t manage to pull off Arjun Kapoor’s beard. When in London, Saif Ali Khan needs his fix of Pan Bahar. Shahrukh Khan really cares about what shade of Nerolac is applied to his home. But Dettol tops it all. Their jingle does nothing but prompt sales of any worthy competitor. It really is that annoying. They have multiple variations of the ad. In not even one have they bothered to include cricket.

And then there was the firecrackers ad. So well done, it highlighted Pakistan’s track record: they haven’t won a single World Cup match against India. A feat in itself, our men in blue did us proud once again, and if nothing, defended this title. Here’s hoping we manage to defend the Cup.