The power of a Jingle – The story of the evergreen Vicco Turmeric jingle

Authored by Saurabh Saggi, Head - Communications, Huawei Consumer Business Group, India.

“A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. A jingle contains one or more hooks….”

This is the definition of a jingle, according to Wikipedia. I would rather summarise a jingle as the soul of an advertisement. The very thing that makes it tick, consumed, and thought of with the same reminiscence forever. Basically, achieving its penultimate goal of elevating brand recognition and being recollected in front of a wider audience or, for a better phrase, “makes it go viral” as we know it.

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I ventured out with a quest. A quest to identify which popular advertisements are still remembered with a smile. It instantly took my audience into their happy places, reminiscing their childhood and simpler times associated with watching these ads that were more of a family time ritual. Many fond memories surfaced. From the easy-to recollected ones like “Fena hi lena”; “Nirma Nirma Nirma”; “Hamara Bajaj”; “Doodh doodh doodh piyo glass full”; “Utterly butterly delicious”, and many more.

What started as a naïve question quickly spurred a couple of interesting marketing insights. First and foremost, these ads differed by age group (your parents’ choices would be different from yours, tuned more for their times). More importantly, ads with a jingle rather than celebrities matter. One of the best examples is the VICCO Turmeric ad. This jingle went viral recently for its unrealised power of bringing people together regardless of any barrier or other differentiating factor.

This is #gold-standard chatter. A rhythm in the randomness of the world. A small wave, powerful enough to bring a smile to your face in the endless oceans of gloom that our social platforms have become.

While we remember these lyrics with fondness, the more interesting aspects were the factors that led to the inception of this marvel. Yes, turning back pages of marketing history books, one would realise that this advertisement was more of a response to an allegation rather than a proactive ingenuity.

Founded in 1952 by KV Pendharkar, the Vishnu Industrial Chemical Company, or Vicco as we lovingly know it, came into being. Vicco was about to enter the hornet’s nest with mounting pressure for homegrown and international players. The company was banking on the old wisdom of Ayurveda at a time when it felt less glamourous amidst the bling of global brands that wanted to make millions from the growing consumer base of the country.

Enters Gajanan Pendharkar, the founder’s son joined the company in 1957 and took over as chairman in 1971. It was under G Pendharkar that the company saw a meteoric rise and emerged as a brand, with turnover shooting from a modest Rs 1 lakh to a Rs 350 crore force.

Such a rise gets noticed – it doesn’t matter whether it works for you or against you! Vicco’s rise caught the unwanted eye of the Central Excise Department of India in 1978. The latter asserted higher taxes to be imposed on Vicco products that leaned towards Cosmetic rather than Ayurvedic. Vicco Vajradanti and Vicco Turmeric Skin were in the eye of a storm. Undoubtedly, Vicco advocated for their products and challenged the claims of the Excise Department.

What followed was a court battle between the asserter and the advocate, with the decision favouring the latter. However, the civil judge of the simpler times shared a verdict that favoured Vicco. They stated that both products were Ayurvedic medicinal preparations, not toothpaste, tooth powder, or “cosmetics” in the early 1980s. As one would imagine, the battle continued with the Excise Department, which eventually led to them rejecting the judgment and moving to the higher courts. This gave birth to the masterpiece of the Vicco Jingle as we know it. The late SS Oberoi was the central figure of this iconic advertisement. He aired this advertisement in his production – “Yeh Hai Zindagi”- which had similar success to the ad.

Now, take a step back and remember those lyrics again:

“Vicco turmeric, nahi cosmetic, Vicco turmeric ayurvedic cream

keel muhaason ko jad se mitaye, haldi chandan ke gun isme samaye,

tvacha ki rakshakare ayurvedic cream... vicco turmeric ayurvedic cream”

You can relate these lyrics to the events that unfolded. The company wanted to make it clear to its target audience that it’s an Ayurvedic product, not a Cosmetic one. It wanted to shout out that Haldi is the main ingredient and wanted to ensure its audience about the safety of its use. Don’t get me wrong, the visualisation of the ad was a key driver of its consumption as well, but what has stuck with us are its evergreen lyrics… those were the heydays for not just the brand, but product marketing in general.