Is the use of old Hindi songs lazy advertising or a masterstroke?

Kishore Kumar’s 1973 Blackmail masterpiece “Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas” was the background score for ChatGPT’s ad showing a girl preparing for a job interview. And the “Ek Din Bik Jayega” duet of Mukesh and Lata Mangeshkar in the 1975 movie Dharam Karam has been used in its cricket academy commercial. The ads used familiar tunes to evoke comfort through nostalgia and to build subtle, emotional connections to highlight hi-tech artificial intelligence (AI) as a supportive mentor, not a formidable foe. Smart strategy, one would surely say: Temper hi-tech with hi-touch through cultural familiarity, and soothing sounds of the past.

ChatGPT is certainly not the first (and surely not the last) to use nostalgia as a consumer handle. In recent times, many brands have tried to deploy old Hindi music in their communication. Mahindra Thar Roxx has mounted a hi-decibel campaign with the 1973 song from Anamika, “Aaj Ki Raat Koi Aane Ko Hai”. Fogg has chosen “Saat Samundar Paar” from Vishwatma (1992) while Coca-Cola has reworked “Hothon Pe Bas Tera Naam Hai” for Coke Zero from Yeh Dillagi (1994) and reimagined R D Burman’s famous “Duniya Mein Logon Ko” track for Rimzim Jeera. Not to be left behind in the nostalgia sweepstakes, Maruti Victoris has injected the Dil Chahta Hai title-track into its brand advertising.

Does nostalgia actually sell? Do audiences who were perhaps not even born when the songs were first screened, really vibe with that music or value it?

The Bharat Lab ran a social experiment with 498 youngsters last week in the Hindi heartland to check out the effectiveness of the nostalgia plug that old Hindi songs provide to brand communication.

Interestingly, many brand ads with Hindi songs got recalled and remembered spontaneously. Besides Mahindra Thar Roxx, ChatGPT, Fogg, and Maruti Victoris, respondents named quite a few brands and their associated songs: Moods Condom’s sensual ambiance with “Yeh Kya Hua” was most easily recalled. Wild Stone’s “Aise Na Mujhe Tum Dekho” tied with Nissan Micra’s “Chala Jaata Hoon” and Nestle KitKat’s “Kaate Nahi Kat Te” amongst the front-runners. Raymond’s “Saamne Yeh Kaun Aaya” found mention alongside TVS Scooty’s “Mud Mud Ke Na Dekh” and Doublemint’s “Ek Ajnabee Haseena Se”. Bellavita’s “Yeh Dil Deewana” and Cadbury Dairy Milk’s “Pehli Tareekh” were also found in the active memory of young consumers.

Conversations led researchers to believe that old music helps create an emotional bridge between generations. “The music may be from my mom’s generation, but I have heard it so often that it feels warm, familiar, and comforting” was a common refrain. When brands use old Hindi songs, they enhance inclusivity and make for better customer proximity, for sure. Older songs also evoke happiness and well-being — a sense of déjà vu — a “memory glitch” that feels good.

Interestingly, “trust” linkage came up as a key component in such nostalgia communication. Especially for brands that are new and yet untested. The old music accorded them a familiarity, a feeling of being known and being around.

The key question is that if old Hindi music resonates so well, can old heroes and heroines too not be resuscitated from the past? What if the Deols were to allow Dharmendra of Sholay to be deep-faked for a motorbike ad set in current times? Would it work? Can Rajesh Khanna actually be on screen wooing a young college girl of today to the sound of “Mere Sapnon Ki Rani Kab Aayegi Tu”? Necro-advertising or “digital resurrection” is surely going to happen, and soon. For its 70th anniversary, Volkswagen Brazil, in 2023, used AI to “resurrect” Brazilian singer Elis Regina (who passed away in 1981) to perform a duet with her daughter, Maria Rita, in its commercial. Similarly, Hershey’s has used Gene Kelly and Diet Coke has used Cary Grant in “throwback marketing” campaigns long after they were dead. So the thought itself is not absurd as it first sounds.

Honestly, while old Hindi songs may seem to work with newer consumers, ad-pundits still think of it as “lazy” advertising. The songs may work somewhat at an emotional level, but rarely do they build lasting brand equity that is both ownable, and encashable.