RIP- Sylvester DaCunha

Sylvester DaCunha…who conceived & created utterly-butterly Amul butter girl campaign…which ran for a record period of over six (6) decades, left for heavenly abode.

Surely, mornings would never be the same, again.

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Here’s the story of Amul Girl & its creator Sylvester DaCunha one of India’s most loved mascots & craftsman, who continues to win hearts with tongue-in-cheek humour and clever wordplay.

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Since her inception in 1966, this cheerful blue-haired little moppet in a red polka-dotted dress has wowed the nation with her sometimes tongue-in-cheek, occasionally controversial and always enjoyable one-liners in billboard and print ads. One of India’s longest running ad campaigns, this is also probably the only ad campaign in the country with an unchanged theme and style for almost 50 years now.

While the brand Amul was registered and started its work in 1957, the advertising campaign started only in 1966. The DaCunha ad agency of Mumbai was given the responsibility of the brand’s ad campaign by Dr Verghese Kurien, head of Amul and the father of India’s White Revolution – the world’s biggest dairy development programme.

Back then, advertising on television and print media was wildly expensive and so Sylvester DaCunha, the founder-chairman of DaCunha Communications, decided to design an Amul ad campaign for the more affordable outdoor hoardings.

The Amul girl was created by Eustace Fernandes, the art director of DaCunha Communications in 1966, the same year the simple yet catchy phrase “Utterly Butterly” was coined by Sylvester’s wife, Nisha DaCunha. Initially, the word ‘butterly‘ met with a lot of scepticism, because it was ungrammatical. However, it worked superbly for the brand and soon became one of the most memorable taglines in Indian advertising!

However, DaCunha soon realised that there was only so much one could say about food. He decided to pitch the dairy brand’s ad campaign differently, in a way that would instantly connect with the public. In 1966, he released the Amul girl’s first topical ad. Titled “Thoroughbread”, the ad showed the Amul girl as a jockey holding a slice of bread during the horse race season. The feedback was again very positive.

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Next came the monsoon ad, “Pitter-patter, pick-a, pack-a Amul butter”, and an ad about the Kolkata hartals of 1960s ,”Bread without Amul —cholbe na, cholbe na”. A clever play on the slogans of the processions, “Cholbe na!” (or “Will not do!”), the ad drew a smile from Bengalis across the country.

While Amul’s topicals ads were very popular, they also posed a challenge – they needed to be released quickly or else, the would lose much of their impact. Realising that the protocol and logistics of approving and releasing an ad took a lot of time, Verghese Kurien gave DaCunha Communications the freedom to run the campaign without waiting to take permission from the company. This very rare gesture reflected Verghes Kurien’s seasoned business acumen and unique way of going about things. This immense creative freedom is still maintained and is the the reason why the Amul girl is never late with her take on the world.

The ad agency was served legal notices several times but they never gave in, always standing by their ads. For instance, during a prolonged airline strike, the Amul ad said, “Indian Airlines serves Amul butter – when it flies.’ A furious airline demanded the immediate removal of the ad or threatened to stop serving Amul butter but the company didn’t relent.

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Rane, on the other hand, has been painting the Amul ads painstakingly by hand for thirty years. Referring to scrapbooks compiled by previous teams, the illustrator ensures that he sticks to Amul girl’s trademark features – blue hair, chubby cheeks, wide eyes, no nose and long eyelashes – even while adding celebrity twists.

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Rest in Peace Sylvester DaCunha.

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