#2016review

The last year saw some very interesting campaigns. While some succeeded in generating positive conversations about their brands on social media platforms, there were others who rubbed their audience the wrong way. Here is our compilation of the most interesting and not so interesting ad campaigns of 2016:

1- Make Love Not Scars- Beauty Tips By Reshma

Make Love Not Scars, an NGO organisation that works towards providing opportunities to acid attack survivors released a series of three advertisements on social media. The campaign was conceptualised by The Ogilvy and Mather in which a real acid attack survivor shares beauty tips and urges people to sign a petition for enforcing a ban on the over-the-counter sale of acid in India. The video campaign triggered global conversation and support for the cause, and more than 300,000 people have signed the petition addressed to the Prime Minister of India.

2- Indian Association of Palliative Care - Last Words

This video campaign was an effort to build awareness about palliative (end-of-days) care through digital and social media. The campaign was helmed by Medulla Communications for the Indian Association of Palliative Care. People usually do not like talking about the inevitability of death and dying, especially for patients with serious illness. It often happens that their 'last words' are heard by nurses rather than their family members. This emotional video features eight nurses who share the last words of their dying patients in a campaign that leaves a lump in the throat.

3- Bajaj V- Sons of Vikrant

An emotional video tribute to INS Vikrant by Bajaj Motorcycles and media house Leo Burnett , Sons of Vikrant is stirring documentary that evokes nostalgia about the legendary warship. The video brings together stories shared by war veterans who served aboard INS Vikrant. Bajaj Motorcycles had bought some parts of the metal from INS Vikrant when the ship was commissioned for scrapping and moulded it into the bodies of their new motorcycle model, 'Bajaj V, The Invincible'.

4- Y- Films- 6 Pack Band

Backed by Hindustan Unilever and launched by Y-films, this video campaign is breaking some well-established industry norms while battling prejudice and discrimination against the transgender community. Asha Jagtap, Bhavika Patel, Chandni Suvarnakar, Fida Khan, Komal Jagtap, and Ravina Jagtap are members of India's first transgender pop music band, whose campaign is making quite an impact with its extraordinary outreach.

5- Jack n Jones- Don't Hold Back

Ranveer Singh's image took a severe beating after a Jack & Jones advertisement showed him picking up a miniskirt-clad girl on his shoulders with the tagline ‘Take you work home’. The ad was slammed by many on social networking sites for being sexist.

On 19 November 2016, users on Twitter started posting the pictures of billboard accusing the brand of being utterly sexist and objectionable. The ad was also reported to the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), the advertising industry watchdog. The company eventually withdrew the ad on 21 November and individually tweeted to the complainants apologizing for causing distress.

6- Pan Bahar- Class never goes out of style

Pierce Brosnan, better known as the famous James Bond, shocked everyone when one fine morning, all newspapers flashed his picture holding a box of Pan Bahar instead of a gun! This was followed by an ad featuring him ooze charm fighting over the villains while holding his pack of Pan Bahar. In response the social media got flooded with trolls and jokes around the advertisement as the man who once defined style using his charm had now taken to Pan Bahar to look cool. Another interesting thing was that people still confused the ad with Pan Parag.

2016.

What a crazy year! Many people are quick to judge 2016 for the messiness and craziness, and many people see the year as one with many negative aspects and setbacks. I think it is important to realize that 2016 was a good year for many people, and we should not be so quick to forget all the positive things that happened in our lives during it.

2016 was a great year for me; it was probably one of the best years that I have ever had. Even though it was definitely the most academically challenging year and physically and mentally exhausting, it was a year filled with accomplishment, progress, and opportunity. I believe that I was able to achieve many things, and I was able to reach and exceed many goals that I set for myself. In 2016, I learned a lot about myself, about other people, and about the world. 

I worked 3 great jobs, had 3 very different and challenging internships, and I took 11 courses at college (6 in Spanish & 5 in English). I studied abroad in Barcelona, Spain for 4 months, I traveled to 7 different countries, 4 new states in the US, and I saw many unforgettable things. I ran over 1,500 miles, 10 races, I finished my last collegiate Cross Country season, and finished my Sociology/Anthropology major after finishing my SOAN 430 Senior Capstone.

I met amazing people, I was able to create new relationships and expand old relationships, all of which I am very thankful for. 

Looking back at my year in review, I wanted to share some parts of my life that were meaningful to me in addition to experiences I had in the past year. Feel free to check them out! If you haven’t heard of them, no worries. Don’t be afraid to TRY SOMETHING NEW, whether it is in 2017 or somewhere later your future. If I learned one thing this year, it is to say YES to more things and to not be afraid to leave your comfort zone and do or experience something unfamiliar to you.

Deuces, 2016, AND Cheers to 2017!

-Erik 

What I loved in 2016 - Check It Out —>

Movies:

Last Hours In Suburbia, Room, Spotlight, Rogue One, Boyhood, Home, Food Matters, Happy, Mitt, Amanda Knox, 6 Years, Short Term 12.

TV Shows

The Killing, Scandal, How To Get Away With Murder, Stranger Things, The OA, Bloodline, Limitless, Colony, Scream, Slasher, The Returned, Making A Murderer

Books:

Invisible by James Patterson, The Grownup by Gillian Flynn, The Things We Wish Were True by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen, Dark Places by Gillian Flynn, Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn, My Sister’s Grave by Robert Dugoni, Now You See Her by James Patterson, First Love by James Patterson

Podcasts:

Serial, Undisclosed, Truth & Justice, Mystery Show, Found

Places:

Venice, Rome, ITALY, Paris, Straussburg, FRANCE, Stuttgart, Munich, Rottenburg, GERMANY, London, Stanstead, ENGLAND, Tarragona, Valls, Madrid, Barcelona, SPAIN, Budapest, HUNGARY, Tempe, Phoenix, Mesa, Scottsdale, ARIZONA, San Francisco, San Jose, Redlands, CALIFORNIA, Las Vegas, NEVADA, Hollis, NEW HAMPSHIRE

Things: