The Amul Girl Topicals ("Utterly Butterly Delicious")
Amul (Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation)1966
The Amul Girl Topicals ("Utterly Butterly Delicious") is a 1966 topical hoardings, later press and social media for Amul, created by daCunha Communications, Mumbai.
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The line
Utterly Butterly Delicious
Why it works
Since 1966 a small girl in a polka-dot dress has been commenting on the news from Amul's billboards. Adman Sylvester daCunha and his art director Eustace Fernandes created her as a mischievous answer to a rival butter brand's mascot girl, and the first topical hoarding, a horse-racing pun on "Thoroughbread", set the formula: a fresh execution pegged to whatever the country is talking about, from elections and scandals to cricket and cinema, a one-line pun, and the sign-off "Utterly Butterly Delicious". Output grew from about one ad a month in the 1960s to several a week, and Amul's own managing director says the topicals have never been submitted to the client for approval. It is studied as one of the longest continuously running advertising campaigns in the world and as proof that a brand can own the national conversation with a cartoon and a pun, moving from hoardings to print, TV and social media without changing its voice.
Techniques
- Real-time and newsjacking Fresh hoardings pegged to whatever the country is talking about, from elections to cricket, let the brand comment on the news week after week.
- Mascots and characters A small girl in a polka-dot dress fronts every execution, a recurring character audiences have recognised for decades.
- Humour Each topical comment lands as a one-line pun before the familiar butter sign-off.
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