as I see it: September 2010

So, I think its apt to expect the many fans of Salman Khan or Dabangg or Malaika Arora Khan remembering the lyrics of the current blockbuster item number Munni Badnaam Hui Darling Tere Liye. If not, they surely do remember the use of a brand 'Zandu Balm' in one of its lines (a total of FIVE times in the song). Here is a recap just in case:

Munni badnaam hui, darling tere liye
Munni ke gaal gulabi, nain sharabi, chaal nawabi re
Le zandu balm hui, darling tere liye
Munni badnaam hui, darling tere liye
Munni ke gaal gulabi, nain sharabi, chaal nawabi re
Le zandu balm hui, darling tere liye
Munni badnaam hui, darling tere liye

So, the movie became an instant hit, beating 3 Idiot's record of biggest opening on box-office or something and quite expectedly, a super duper hit Salman Dude Khan's movie with an item number featuring Malaika Arora Khan had to be a HIT. And so it did.

And here came in the twist, Emami sues Dabangg for using ‘Zandu Balm’ name in ‘Munni Badnaam’ song (http://goo.gl/uLFQ). This is just one of these links. You can see how this news spread like wild fire all over (http://goo.gl/VfOz).

The company has reportedly sent a notice to Arbaaz Khan Productions Private Limited, claiming that it's the sole copyright holder of "not only the product, but also the name Zandu Balm"and asked the producers to withdraw the song or delete the name of the product from it, failing which it might take action against them.

And then? Less than 10 days later we see this - New Zandu Balm ad to encash popularity of Dabangg's song Munni Badnaam (http://goo.gl/UJT3)

After reaching an out-of-court settlement with Arbaaz Khan Production for the use of words in its chartbuster Munni badnaam hui, Emami is now ready to cash in on the popularity of the song with a new TV commercial to be aired within two days

Interestingly, 2 days before the above news story Arbaaz Khan posted the following two pictures in his tweets:

http://twitter.com/arbaazSkhan/status/25589184855

http://twitter.com/arbaazSkhan/status/25601957447

And not much after this we did see Zandu Balm's new ad with a clipping of the song Munni Badnaam and a voice over saying something like "Munni Ka Favourite Balm, Zandu Balm... etc etc."

Mere coincidences? A brand like Zandu Balm who hasn't used any TV Commercials for really really long now all of a sudden grabbed upon an "opportunity" in an "out-of-court settlement"?

Who knows? Maybe it was a well planned out strategy (Abhishaik strongly advocates it).

A prospective super hit item number using a brand name 'Zandu Balm' in its lyrics (a total of FIVE times in such a way that it features more than once in both 'Mukhda' and 'Antra' of the song)
Zandu Balm suing the producers and gathering Muft ka Prachaar across news channels and on the World Wide Web
Out-of-court settlement of Malaika being the brand ambassador and a new Zandu Balm ad to use the song's clips!

The sequence of steps seem to smooth and quick to sound true!

Kya khela hai! Waah! Marketing ka Mayajaal!

Consumer is caught unaware of how brands are being placed in their heads. Is it the right way? They say, everything is fair in love and war. Yaha kaunsa love aur kaunsi war? Maybe, we should change it to 'Everything is fair in love, war andprachaar'.

By the way today, I saw yet another ad of Zandu Balm featuring Virendra Sehwag, Dinesh Karthik and Amit Mishra. Any connection with Delhi Daredevils now? Prospective sponsor? And does this also mean that these 3 players would remain with Delhi Daredevils even after the new auction process?

Maybe, soon we may see a new ad - Munni Badnaam Hui Delhi Daredevils ke liye

Waise Munni Badnaam bhi hui to kya hua, woh kehte hain na

Badnaam huey to kya hua, Naam to hua!

PS: We all would also have noticed Chaini Khaini using a clip of the same song for in its campaign. Badnaam hui Munni, kaam hua Marketing Departments ka

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