Back in September 2021, Disney+ Hotstar launched a campaign titled ‘Siway SRK’, co-written by Devaiah Bopanna, Tanmay Bhat, Vishal Dayama, Puneet Chadha, and Deep Joshi.
The narrative device was unique – it has a very well-known star (Shah Rukh) who wants to be on Disney+ Hotstar, an OTT platform, through a show of his own, but isn’t… yet. And he realizes through his manager that there are many other stars (some named in the ad) on the platform already. And the star wonders why he’s the only one still not on it.
In a way, the narrative device is very similar to what the writers had used, and experienced significant success, in their CRED ads. The idea is to use a celebrity who doesn’t directly sell the product/company that had roped them. But they do utterly unexpected things where the brand is incidental. CRED’s first series saw actors like Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit audition for the CRED ad and not directly talk about why it is a good app for users. The second series was even more subversive – Rahul Dravid had nothing to do with CRED (and did not pitch the product to us), as also all the other stars who were subsequently roped in, like Kapil Dev or Neeraj Chopra.
And who were the writers for the CRED ads? Tanmay Bhat, Devaiah Bopanna, Puneet Chadha, Nupur Pai, and Vishal Dayama – that’s 4 same writers!
In the Disney+ Hotstar ad, the idea is to use a star who is not on the platform precisely for that reason, and through that narrative showcase who else and what else is on the platform. In other words, the annoyance of the one star who is not on the platform generates the humor for the spot (self-deprecating humor for the star) and becomes the voice of the platform’s many choices, including sports, exclusive shows, and movies. The ads mention other stars, through the voice of the manager – Ajay Devgn, Akshay Kumar, Saif Ali Khan, Sanjay Dutt.
There were 3 ads in this series.
Cut to January 21, 2022.
Here’s a new spot by Apple TV+, an OTT platform just like Disney+ Hotstar, made by TBWA\Media Arts Lab.
The star? Jon Hamm, known for his role as Don Draper in the TV show Mad Men.
The narrative device? Jon realizes the many, many stars (Samuel L Jackson, Billie Eilish, Tom Holland, Chris Evans, Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, Jason Momoa, Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Mahershala Ali, Octavia Spencer, Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, and Jon Stewart) who have shows on Apple TV+ and wonders why he isn’t on the platform yet!
There are smaller narrative nuances that differentiate the two (a lot more stars named, Jon speaking to us, the audience, directly, as against the Disney+ Hotstar ad where the star and his manager are talking to each other), but the basic idea is exactly the same.
That’s a hugely surprising coincidence, I’d say, considering both are by, and for, rival OTT platforms! And 4 months apart.
Even the ad titles are identical – ‘Siway SRK’ vs. ‘Everyone but Jon Hamm’!!
So, that’s India – 1, and USA – 0, I reckon 🙂
Incidentally, Jon Hamm has been on Apple TV+ – in an episode of Carpool Karaoke!
And Shah Rukh Khan is on Disney+ Hotstar, in the form of some of his movies available on the platform, like My Name is Khan and Guddu. But they are not on those platforms in a way they are self-deprecatingly referring to in their ads!
A funny, throwaway similarity that you shouldn’t take seriously: the Disney+ Hotstar ad campaign was directed by Ayappa of Early Man Films, while the production house of the Apple ad is called Hungry Man 🙂
PS: Apple followed up that Jon Hamm ad with one featuring Timothee Chalamet!