One of the most clever TV ads I’ve seen in a long time.

Warning: this song may become an earworm and stick with you for the rest of the day.

This is clever. The Idea cellular phone network in India recently expanded its coverage across virtually the entire country. They wanted to emphasize (a) how fast and thoroughly a song or meme can reach everyone in a whole nation, and (b) that their cell network is the one that can do it.

From Devesh Gupta at afaqs.com:

The film showcases people from different parts of the country humming the tune while they follow their daily routines. The funny, soothing tune relaxes their mind and gives them a chance to share a laugh with friends.

Ashwin Varkey, creative director (for Idea’s ad agency Lowe Lintas), says, “Idea wanted us to come up with an ad that showcases its footprint all across the country. It is like saying ‘wherever you go, there is an Idea network’. The idea was that if you have the network, your phone will ring.” Varkey is confident that people will stick to it for a long time. He says, “If it was not a sticky tune then it would not have been successful.”

It’s a sticky tune indeed. They released this ad in December and it’s already taken the country by storm. And as you can see, it’s even being seen and heard and enjoyed all over the globe. I don’t know much about Indian geography, so this wasn’t apparent to me until I read Gupta’s article. But the last scene in the restaurant portrays an Indian man visiting a foreign country, and the “Honey Bunny” tune gets taken up by a waiter, presumably to spread across that new land too.

Clever and well crafted. And the song is simple and innocent enough to make everyone smile. It also shows that the English language is somewhat of a unifier in India.

“You’re my pumpkin pumpkin.. Hello honey bunny.. toko toko..”

Add: a subsequent Google search tells me that “toko” is a Hindi word for “close acquaintance.”