Liril Girl (Waterfall)

Why it works

A young woman plays, dives and splashes beneath a forest waterfall, the film cutting between the cascade and an ordinary bathroom shower to a "La, lalala, la, la, la" jingle. Lintas made it to launch Hindustan Lever's new lime soap, India's first, after Alyque Padamsee commissioned research into what housewives felt behind the bathroom door: the daily bath, they said, was the only time that belonged to them. So where rival soaps promised fairer or clearer skin, Liril sold a few minutes of escape, with the waterfall standing in for the shower. Air India stewardess Karen Lunel was picked from about a hundred hopefuls and filmed in near-freezing water at Kodaikanal, and Vanraj Bhatia wrote the tune. A Lever product manager balked at the bikini; the spot aired uncut. Padamsee says Liril reached a 25 per cent share within a year and became Lever's top-selling brand. The waterfall format ran for some 35 years, and the falls are still promoted as the Liril Falls.