Brands say Chak De! to latest SRK-starrer

Multiple brands are riding the success of the hockey flick, ‘Chak De! India’, starring Shah Rukh Khan. McDonalds, Puma, Ultratech Cement and Bisleri are some of the brands that had in-film placements while some brands, which had not tied up, chose to tag along with contests and distributing freebies.

by exchange4media Staff
Published: Aug 17, 2007 9:25 AM | 2 min read

Brands say Chak De! to latest SRK-starrer

Movie associations are the ‘in-thing’ for brands these days. However, with limited ‘exclusive’ associations and brand placements possible in a movie, brands are now trying various methods to create a connection with the movie by giving away tickets and other related merchandise.

Yashraj Films’ ‘Chak De! India’ is a recent example of multiple brands riding the movie association wave. Brands such as McDonalds, Puma, Ultratech Cement and Bisleri were placed in the movie seamlessly and were not ‘in-the-face’, according to some moviegoers. These in-film placements are catching up among the brand managers who are realising the long term opportunities they offered them.

Interestingly, three radio stations latched on to this opportunity. Radio One joined hands with Sunsilk Gang of Girls to give away 500 tickets of ‘Chak De! India’ to girls in Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi through the contest.

My FM organised ‘Chak De’ hockey matches between teams from girls colleges on August 9 and 10 at places where the station is on-air. The winners were also given tickets for the movie along with ‘Rakshak’ hockey sticks – the hockey sticks used by Shah Rukh Khan and the players in the movie.

Red FM featured the Chak De! hockey girls live at their studio for their morning show and even took the girls for a screening of their own movie.

Fairever also rode this wave with multiplex activations. An official communiqué stated, “In the spirit of sportsmanship and the promotion of hockey as a game for women, P9 Multiplex and Cinema Activation put together an activation for Fairever in the form of a mini hockey field in the foyers of multiplexes where patrons could try shooting goals into the net and win free goodies from Fairever.”

With such movie associations from brands, the movie invariably gets promoted in a bigger manner than they might have expected. But with such rampant associations, are they diluting the brand value? Another question brand custodians need to ponder upon is whether the viewer truly recognises the associations.

No official from Yash Raj Films could be contacted for comments despite repeated attempts.