Advertising veteran Sylvester daCunha, the man who created the iconic 'Amul Girl', passed away on Tuesday night in Mumbai.
daCunha, the founder of da Cunha Associates, not only created the Amul girl, but also the tagline 'Utterly Butterly’ in 1966. This campaign of the dairy major, went on to become one of the longest running advertising campaigns in the world, and till date creates topical advertisements regularly with witty taglines featuring the wide-eyed little girl in a polka-dot dress.
daCunha conceptualised this popular campaign when the advertising agency ASP that he was the managing director of, first got the account for Amul butter. Amul, at the time, was looking to change the image of butter, otherwise viewed as a plain bring product. He then replaced the tagline from Purely the best to Utterly Butterly Amul.
Jayen Mehta, the MD of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation that runs the brand Amul, tweeted on Wednesday expressing his condolences. "A doyen of Indian advertising industry who was associated with Amul since 1960s. The Amul family joins in mourning this sad loss," Mehta tweeted.
Very sorry to inform about the sad demise of Shri Sylvester daCunha, Chairman of daCunha Communications last night at MumbaiA doyen of Indian advertising industry who was associated with Amul since 1960s. The Amul family joins in mourning this sad loss @RahuldaCunhaॐ Shanti 🙏 pic.twitter.com/cuac1K6FSo
— Jayen Mehta (@Jayen_Mehta) June 21, 2023
Pavan Singh, General Manager Marketing at Amul India also said in a LinkedIn post that the Amul campaign scaled new heights, moved seamlessly from OOH to print, TV & then digital & social media, enhancing its reach & popularity across multiple generations.
"Along with the legendary Dr. Verghese Kurien, it was Mr. Sylvester Dacunha who had initiated our immortal, iconic topical campaign in 1966, which is one of longest continuously running advertising campaigns in the world. This campaign scaled new heights, moved seamlessly from OOH to print, TV & then digital & social media, enhancing its reach & popularity across multiple generations," he wrote.
"Mr. Sylvester Dacunha once told me that he had designed his famous Amul Cheese boy, brand mascot of Amul Cheese in late 90s - early 2000s, keeping my image in mind, his way of perhaps acknowledging my contributions in building the category. I will always cherish memories of my interactions with him. His advertising acumen, his gentle, fatherly nature, his amazing wit & sense of humour are etched in my memory. I am sure, he will live on forever, in the minds & hearts of Advertising & marketing professionals in India," he added.
de Cunha is survived by wife Nisha da Cunha and son Rahul.
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