Liril is back with a Brazilian girl!

If you’re a 90s kid, that lyrical tune, a gush of waterfall and bikini clad girl would surely evoke nostalgia and your heart feels with a joy whenever you remember the TV commercial. At a time when getting bold wasn’t encouraged by the audience, curving out aesthetics out of bikini has surely given Liril a high five in its marketing ambit.

And guess what the news is? The Liril girl is back, thanks to Hindustan Unilever’s strategy to relaunch its soap brand Liril.

"These are the roots of Liril. They don't change. And what we're doing is paying homage to the Liril that we all know, bringing alive the very same elements that have been part of our popular culture through time," George Koshy, general manager for personal wash category at HUL told The Economic Times.

The marble green soap brand made waves 40 years ago when model and Air India air-hostess Karen Lunel wore a swimsuit and danced under a cascade to the catchy jingle, reads the ET news report.

"It is an iconic ad in Indian memory and even newer people are interested in history if there is a back story as interesting as that of Liril. In a low-involvement category like soaps, Liril will stand out and surely gain share now," Alpana Parida, president at brand consultancy firm DY Works has told the ET.

After 1985, the brand was defined by models Pooja Batra, Preity Zinta and Deepika Padukone - each seen playing in the water and swimming under the waterfall. But they were merely shadows of the original ad.

Also, it wasn't the same after the 90s, when the lemon product was diluted with variants such as orange and icy blue, followed by a name change to Liril 2000 a decade ago.

"I feel vindicated because there are some appeals that are timeless. Freshness in a tropical country has an eternal appeal which is now being revived," Padamsee told the financial daily, adding that Liril promised a few minutes of freedom from the daily grind of the Indian housewife.

The new campaign, featuring Brazilian model Anabelle and created by Lowe, was launched on social media last week.

"'Must have taken a lot of guts to go back', was one particular response and that sums up our approach - stick to the core," said Koshy.

While the image of the lime and lemony zest soap brand and its ad may not have faded away, its market share did - falling from a high of over 14 per cent three decades ago to less than 2 per cent now - in the Rs 16,000-crore soap category.

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