The popular soup brand Knorr has always had advertisements with caring mothers taking charge of their children by serving hot and delicious soups, especially when kids go cranky from hanger pangs. But, the latest ad by Knorr is breaking stereotypes and portrayed social stigma in India by featuring Bollywood director Karan Johar in a homosexual manner.
The new ad has one-liner ‘One Night with Karan’ where Karan Johar is seen getting seduced by a hot and handsome friend, who rings his doorbell at 3 in the night. And Karan, who was expecting the sexual act to make him feel warmer, prepares soup instead on his friend’s request. The drenched look of his friend and Karan’s sexual expressions went hand in hand. The ad ends with it showing Karan’s disappointment and other guy’s pleasure in having soup, closing with a proposition ‘Restaurant like soup at home’.
The Hindustan Unilever said that their new ad is aimed to break any stereotype in pertinent to food advertising which usually depicts moms or a homemaker serving food for the family. Shiva Krishnamurthy, vice-president, at HUL said ‘Knorr is a progressive and inspirational global food brand, which promises ‘restaurant-like taste at home’.
The company also stated that they could not think anyone else to play the character better than Karan Johar. ‘We are delighted to have him on board as our brand ambassador,’ the vice-president said.
The previous taglines by Knorr – ‘Tummy bhi khush, Mummy bhi khush’ and ‘Choti bhook bye bye!’ has been too mainstream according to the team and hence, came up with a stereotype-breaking subject. The aim was to bring a fresh concept this time. The video is doing rounds on the internet just as much as it is showing on television channels. The concept, idea and Karan have been praised for taking up something unusual in order to break taboo.
