Ponds Cold Cream gives a new emotional twist to its googly woogly wooksh and its latest ad is a must watch

• Conceptualised by Ogilvy Mumbai, Ponds Cold Cream’s latest ad is about a dementia patient who lives alone with a helper.
• We also look back at Ponds Cold Cream’s communication journey so far and some of its well-known ads.

We are in the middle of the festive season in a year that is very different from others. It is during this time of the year that many people go back to their hometowns to spend quality time with their families. However this year, due to COVID-19, while a few privileged people have managed to fly back to their homes, many are still stranded within the four walls of their house, missing the human touch in their life and that warm feeling of togetherness.

Timed perfectly, Ponds Cold Cream has revived its old ‘Googly Woogly Wooksh’ tagline and this time, the brand has given it a twist. It talks about how love between a grandchild and grandparent is eternal and reminds us how powerful and healing a touch can be.

Conceptualised by Ogilvy Mumbai, Ponds Cold Cream’s latest ad is about a dementia patient who lives alone with a helper. His granddaughter decides to pay him a visit to find out that he is having a hard time recollecting his memories and cannot recognise anyone. She is heartbroken to hear the news but musters some courage, puts on a smile and goes in to greet him.

She calls him endearingly, “Daadu” and he asks, “Who is it?” She is taken aback as reality hits her but takes it upon herself to remind him of good, old days. She finds their archive of old photographs and tries to take him down the memory lane but nothing seems to work. She then turns to the sense of touch and trusts that it would work its magic and bring back some of his memories. And it does. They break into a laughter together as the grandfather pulls her cheeks and says, “Googly Woogly Wooksh.”

As he touches her, the lyrics go, “I am confident that I would find you. I trust that you are here somewhere around me. Googly Woogly Wooksh.” The background score is a cherry on the top as it amplifies our emotions and subtly plugs in pictures of hide-and-seek, storytelling time and other memories that we shared with our grandparents growing up.

It is also important to note here that not many advertisements have represented dementia patients and Ponds Cream’s efforts are worth appreciating.

The brand and agency have cleverly evolved with changing times and managed to keep its old tagline relevant. It has catered to different groups like young kids, old couples, young couples, feminists and parents.

When Ponds first launched its ‘Googly Woogly Wooksh’ ad, they made life unbearable for chubby teenagers in 2009 and it became a part of popular culture. It is also the first campaign/melody that pops in our head when we think of winter cream. A cute old man pulling his wife’s cheeks never fails to bring a smile on my face.

In 2016, the brand also launched an extended song of its jingle with 9XM. It was sung by Monali Thakur and Armaan Malik and was made into a music video.

When social experiments were a thing, Ponds upped its advertising game and conducted an experiment called #PondsKiJhappi to remind millennials to hug their parents. It was yet another reminder of how powerful can touch be. The video made us want to reach out to our loved ones right away.

The beauty and skin care brand had even partnered with Kajol and Shahrukh Khan for Dilwaale to make its tagline more relevant in the changing time and reach out to a wider audience.

Ponds Cream’s last campaign was released in 2019 and developed by Ogilvy India and Singapore. It targeted young women who often deal with internal bullies.

Titled SeeWhatHappens, Ponds broke another stereotype by featuring a female budding boxer and a mother supporting her dreams. She deals with the dilemma of revealing this decision to her mother as her inner voice holds her back, creating a struggle between what she wants to do and what she thinks is expected of her. It encouraged young girls to face their insecurities, hesitations and uproot internalised patriarchy by treating their problems like an experiment. Just see what happens? It said in its ad.

And who can forget the early, simple Googly Woogly Wooksh ads that will always live rent free in our heads? Even in the late 90s and early 20s, Ponds made a point to feature different kinds of women. They have featured an old woman, a young girl, a teacher, christain woman, pregnant woman, and a mother.