Did BJP’s ad campaigns fail to fire up ‘400 paar’ aim?
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost its majority in the parliamentary elections after suffering major losses in key states like Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, marking a dramatic shift in a political landscape it has dominated for the past decade. Unlike both those elections, when the BJP won clear majorities on its own in a house of 543 seats, it won 240 seats this time around. The halfway mark is 272 seats. The media and advertising industry was abuzz with speculations about what went wrong for the party. Some even claimed that the BJP’s poll campaign could not impress as many voters as it should have done. “A few BJP’s campaigns were so weird that they resulted in a barrage of memes,” quipped an industry veteran, referring to the viral ad “War Rukwa Di Papa”. However, many industry experts said that BJP suffered anti-incumbency in some seats which was the prime reason behind their poor show, not the campaigns. Notably, Prasoon Joshi-led McCain group and Manish Bhat-led Scarecrow M&C Saatchi & Saatchi were chosen by the BJP for its creative duties in the 2024 elections. Madison Media has been managing BJP’s media planning and buying strategies since 2014 Lok Sabha elections. e4m reached out to Bhatt and Joshi to get their insights on the matter. The story will be updated as and when they respond. Viral campaigns BJP released an ad campaign that showed a student girl returning from Ukraine telling her father that PM Modi managed to stop the war there to rescue stranded Indian students. Social media couldn’t stop buzzing after the ad campaign went viral. The claims by the student in the ad had triggered a meme fest. The controversial ad went global a day before the results day, when the US comedian and podcaster John Oliver had a satirical take on the “war rukwa di papa” campaign in his latest episode released on YouTube on June 2. It is yet to be telecast on HBO partner JioCinema. Indian Elections - Last Week Tonight with John Oliver@iamjohnoliver pic.twitter.com/dVmP9IfHdm The BJP had also come out with a spoof ad that portrayed INDIA Bloc as unfit to win the voters' trust or the Prime Minister's seat. The ad, styled as an arranged marriage scenario, features a Rahul Gandhi lookalike as the potential groom with a dysfunctional joint family representing alliance members like Sonia Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal, Mamata Banerjee, and others. Critics found the ad misogynistic. Industry veterans recalled BJP’s iconic campaigns of past years “Abki Baar Modi Sarkar” and “Har Har Modi, Ghar Ghar Modi” created by none other than Piyush Pandey (Ogilvy) which struck a chord with the public and resulted in windfall gains for the party. A study conducted by the CSDS-Lokniti to analyze 150 campaign songs on YouTube released by the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from January 1 to April 10, 2024 had found the BJP relied on the figure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to boost the party’s credibility and reach. The same was the case in the previous elections as well. It is unclear how much the BJP spent on its poll campaigns, creative and media both. However, a closer look at the Google and Meta Political Ad Transparency data suggests that the BJP spent more than Rs 150 Cr on these two digital platforms alone. All parties will submit their expenditure reports to the election commission soon. For more updates, be socially connected with us on
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Tags : Mccann Bjp Prasoon Joshi Narendra Modi 400 Paar Election Results 2024