So, we have landed in the romantic month of the year again and everyone’s talking about love. Here’s another place to look for love – ADVERTISING! How often do we find it in the story? How passionately do we craft the content and infuse the emotion of ‘love’ in the brand’s story? The prime question still remains – “Does advertising still have LOVE in it?” Let’s explore.
Love – An imperative emotion
‘Art & literature’ as a segment has always tempted a group of passionate poets, painters, sculptors and storytellers of every kind. Though they have tried to portray a gamut of emotions through their craft, ‘love’ has been one of the most dominating emotions of them all.
Now, translating this love in the form of a brand story and connecting that emotion with the product/service benefit was a task. That’s where the “Commercial Artists” came into the picture. Going by the textbook definition, ‘commercial art’ is the art of creative services created for the purpose of advertising and selling. Here are some masterpiece ad campaigns that portrayed the emotion of ‘love’ on various dimensions.
UNHATE – United Colors of Benetton
While the whole world was getting broiled in the political turmoil, United Colors of Benetton launched a simple, yet striking and controversial campaign that changed the way we defined ‘love’ as an emotion. The brand coined the term UNHATE and created a print and outdoor campaign that took the world by storm. However, the campaign was too bold to be launched in India with the Indian faces and it didn’t quite see the light of the day. Overall, this is one of the boldest campaigns that was ever launched to show the power of love.

SHUBHARAMBH – Cadbury’s Dairy Milk
In India, the moment anyone even thinks of ‘love’, the first thing that comes to our minds is ‘Dairy Milk’. This is a brand that has etched its element in the hearts of the people, quite literally. Be it for Valentine’s Day, Rakhi or birthdays, gifting a ‘Dairy Milk’ has become a ritual. It’s not that the western dessert is eating up the traditional Indian desserts, but it has clearly made a niche for itself and Cadbury’s has nailed the art of ‘sharing’ love. When the campaign “kya swad Hai Zindagi Mein” was aired, we were all blushing and our hearts just melted at the sight of the girl munching on the Dairy Milk and dancing her heart out in the cricket stadium. That was ‘love’ portrayed in its purest form. Surprisingly, the aura that the original commercial had in the 90s, wasn’t quite the same when it was recreated with a gender-reversed version in 2021.
Embed Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPdpsuW3e_A
Diamonds are forever – Immortalizing ‘Love’
One of the most memorable ad campaigns that symbolized ‘love’ in its truest sense was the ‘Diamonds are Forever’ campaign by De Beers. It not only ignited the desire but the need to buy a diamond ring. Soon, diamond became the necessary element in every jewellery a woman (even a man) wore.
This was the campaign that came the closest to representing ‘love’ as emotion and romanticizing the feeling of owning a diamond ring. While the original ad was created, the Black & White theme was a functional upshot. The creative element that was a cut above the rest, was the golden highlight in Black & White. This design style became a trend and the consequential ads followed the same theme of Black & White.
Embed Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke7Qdzpijoc
At 3 Dots Design Pvt. Ltd., we believe that ‘love’ is one emotion that tugs our hearts in the most beautiful ways. While there are other emotions that cannot be overlooked as an advertiser, as a storyteller, we can very well weave them in the brand story that we craft for our brands. Being one of the top ad agencies in Pune, our job is to creatively craft continuous communication to keep our clients engaged with their customers and helping them do that effectively is our forte. If you think your brand needs a bit of pampering in the lap of advertising, we are ready to fly in to meet you in our ‘Pitchcraft’. Just drop a mail at [email protected] and we’ll put the best foot forward.
Lots of Love,
3 Dots Design