Adil Najam
The Ads (commercials) we watch while growing up can sometimes have an amazingly profound an impact on us. When I look back at all my years of growing up with PTV (Pakistan Television) I remember as many ads as I do any other form of programming. The memories of some still bring back a smile on my face. This blog post shares a few of those ads which I was able to find on YouTube.
This first one (above) is the famous Binaca Ad with the, then, child singer Afshaan who used to appear in the Sohail Rana children music programs and later, when all grown up, also appeared often on PTV.
This famous Naurus Ad (Naurus, by the way, is the other Red Bull of Pakistan) was equally popular and the cute little girl featured here was a national sensation of her time. I wonder where she is now.
We have written aboutsome very striking old PIA Ads, print Ads from the 1950s, and also about credit card and bank advertising and telecom company advertising. But old PTV ads have a quality and power all their own (see some new TV ads here).
I am not sure if these ads are necessarily better than the ones we have now. Indeed, some of the new ads are truly amazing - programming quality or better. For example, the Tapal Tea Ads/songs that Shoaib Mansoor produced. And also many more. Mayb, I was younger then and the memories of those days seem more glorious in retrospect. Or, maybe, we only had one channel and much fewer ads and, therefore, whatever was on TV seemed more memorable.
But whatever the reason, for me at least, these ads and the memories of some others from the same era have a particular and special quality to them. I have enjoyed seeing them again, and I hope you will too.
I should confess that I always found this next Ad - of State Life Insurance - rather funny. I still do. The very cute child is praying for her father’s long life and celebrating the fact that he has bought a Life Insurance policy. I wonder why buying - or cashing - a Life Insurance Policy bring such happiness to any child? Anyhow, the ad was catchy and very very popular. In fact, I think it was remade twice or thrice.
By the way, in the realm of the funny were the old Metromillan Billi Marka Agarbatti Ads. Unfortunately, I could not find a video of them.
One of my all-time favorite Ads - and, unfortunately, I could not find a video of this one - was the old Peek Freens biscuit Ad with the Pied Piper luring all the kids away with Peek Freens biscuits. This is the one filmed on a beautiful hill-station location and produced, I believe, by Javed Jabbar.
Another memorable one was this Ad for Kiwi Show polish. Again, the theme is school children and teh classroom. Watch here if the video below does not work.
Do share with us what might be some of your favorite ads from the old PTV days. And why?
Neelma Hasan’s dentonic Ad.
Ek Chutki Dentonic se Chutki bajatay he
tringggggggggggggggggggggg…..
Daant Sufaid aur Chamakdar. DEN-TO-NIC
naz Pan:
Jis ki Kushbo b pyari Jis k Lazzat b Pyari
Wo hay Sab ko Pasand
meri muthi me band hay kia…
Batadona!
Naz Pan Masala Naz Pan Masala
Bonanza.
The guy who used to read English news was the model
Fashion k Dunya Mey aya.. Bonanza Bonanza Bonanza..
And one of my Favorite:
Gas aur bloodpressure k Ilaj k liye.. Farzana Dawakahana Dastigir Number Nau(9) Karachi
I remember the Metromilan agarbsti billi marks Ads they used to be very elaborate
The Dentonic Ads have to be the worst of all times.
I think it was the owner who insisted to be in the Ads.
Three blasts from the AD-Past are my favorites.
1. The theme music from CAPSTAN Ads!
&
2. Chai Chahiyay! Kon Si Janab? Lipton Umda Hai! Lipton Umda Hai!
and of course which young man of that time could forget the starlet of that time singing in the following ad!
3. Mer Muthi May band hai kiya? Bata do na! NAZ PAN MASALA! NAZ PAN MASALA!
does anyone remember this add for a crop pest spray….
Ripcard da maro chirka….!!
couple of favourite adds…not for the reason that they were good add…they just bring back some very good memories..
one is for Beedee (desi cigarettes)…and i only remember it from the Eid days…’Babu Beedee bananay waloon ke taraf say ahle watan to dilly eid mubarak..Babu …babu!!!’…
the other is the Naz Paan masalah add…’Meri Muthi main bund hai kya….bata do na’
it was remade I think for a few years by updating the models with however was the ‘it’ couple or what not….
there was an ad of A1 karak chai … i just love the line aa gaya hai te cha gaya hai thaa karke from that ad….it was so funny
also the ad of gogo pan masala was quite annoying
dadi ji ke paandan se khatai thai hum paan
naya zamana aya apnai sath gogo laya
gogo paan maslai ki kya baat
but if i compare these ads from what we currently have i think the previous lot was much better in terms of contents and concept…. i never get the idea why there always has to be a female model in shaving creams / razors ads … but love the gillete ad with cha cha cha
Hi Najam, I dont think you would remember me, but this is usman from UET 84 elec. Talking of adds the ones I distinctly recall is GAYE SOAP (laundry soap), i think this add is most unique in the sense that you saw a cow firing a cannon, and that too in a detergent add. But i think the add recall was excellent as it almost bordered on being ridiculously funny.
Another add which I think was popular was a powder milk add, in which Rani (a buffalo) was asked “Rani tumhara kia khiyal hai?” and the reply was Moooooooo….
I think 50-50 the shoaib mansoor funny skit programme also played a role in making some of these adds almost ever green by creating a hilarious skit around the add story line.
I still feel Mobilinks of today (Hi Farid) :)) should try to learn from the adds from India which predominantly focus on a humourous story line. The present day grim environment in Pakistan which gives few reasons for people to smile, i think lends itself for the advertising companies to really focus on making people laugh and in this way make the brands to be heard. Honestly I dont know how effective Muammar Rana in selling Jazz by dancing 24 hours a day on our screens. Just a thought Farid.