Delinker at 11:49, 31 July 2023

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'''Amul Girl''' refers to the advertising mascot used by [[Amul]], an Indian dairy brand. The Amul girl is a hand-drawn cartoon of a young Indian girl dressed in a polka dotted frock with blue hair and a half pony tied up.<ref name="Journalism And Mass Communication">{{cite book|last=Naqvi|first=Hena |title=Journalism And Mass Communication|publisher=Upkar Prakashan, 2007|pages=220 pages 220 pages 220|isbn=9788174821089|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0aFH2KFhFOkC&pg=PA199&dq=Amul+girl&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ejE_T67PBIftrAfzuOW5Bw&ved=0CEAQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Amul%20girl&f=false|accessdate=Feb 18, 2012}}</ref> The Amul girl advertising has often been described as one of the best Indian Advertising concepts because of its humour.<ref name="Kerala CM's 'Amul Baby' Dig at Rahul Inspires Amul Ad">{{cite news|url=http://news.outlookindia.com/items.aspx?artid=718861 |title=Kerala CM's 'Amul Baby' Dig at Rahul Inspires Amul Ad |date=Apr 14, 2011 |publisher=Outlook India |accessdate=18 February 2012 |location=AHMEDABAD |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131227003641/http://news.outlookindia.com/items.aspx?artid=718861 |archivedate=27 December 2013 }}</ref>

==Origin==
The Amul girl was created as a response to Amul's rival brand Polson's butter-girl. The idea was conceived in 1967 once ASP (Advertising, Sales and Promotion) clinched the brand portfolio from the previous agency FCB Ulka. It was executed by Mr. Sylvester Da Cunha, the owner of the agency and his art director Eustace Fernandes on hoardings, painted bus panels and posters in Mumbai. The mascot, since then, has been mobilized to comment on many events of national and political importance like the Emergency in India in 1976.<ref name=Trans>{{cite book|title=Transmission System Design|publisher=Nirali Prakashan|isbn=81-85790-96-5}}</ref>

==Development==
[[File:MFCC 2014 - Amul Girl (16063961776).jpg|thumb|[[Cosplay]] of the Amul Girl at the [[Comic Con India|Mumbai Film and Comic Con 2014]].]]
In 1966, Amul decided to give their account to the advertising agency called Advertising and Sales Promotion (ASP) to work on their ad campaign. Sylvester da Cunha, the then managing director of the agency and Eustace Fernandez, art director decided to create something that would grab the attention of every housewife in the country.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.amul.tv/amultv/aboutus.html |title=Archived copy |access-date=2012-02-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111228135511/http://amul.tv/amultv/aboutus.html |archive-date=2011-12-28 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Verghese Kurien|Dr Verghese Kurien]], then chairman of the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF) suggested a mischievous little girl as a mascot with two requirements. It had to be easy to draw and memorable as most of the advertising would be outdoor media which required hand painting in those days and the hoardings had to be changed frequently.<ref name="The Amul girl">{{cite news|url=http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2007-10-05/news/27685971_1_plans-board-amul-girl-amul-moppet|title=The Amul girl|date=Oct 5, 2007|publisher=Economic Times|accessdate=18 February 2012}}</ref>

=== Variation ===
In January 2021, a four-year-old child singer [[Esther Hnamte]] from Mizoram was used as the Amul Girl.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web|date=2021-01-29|title='Esthereal': Here's how Amul honoured Mizoram's 4-year-old internet sensation|url=https://www.eastmojo.com/news/2021/01/29/esthereal-heres-how-amul-honoured-mizorams-4-year-old-internet-sensation/|access-date=2021-06-03|website=EastMojo|language=en-US}}</ref> Hnamte became a media sensation with a music video covering [[A. R. Rahman]]'s [[Vande Mataram (album)|Maa Tujhe Salaam]], which was posted on YouTube on 25 October 2020.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Ghosh|first=Raya|last2=|first2=|last3=|first3=|date=1 January 2020|title=PM Modi is proud of 4-yr-old Mizoram girl for her rendition of Vande Mataram. Viral post|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/trending-news/story/pm-modi-is-proud-of-4-yr-old-mizoram-girl-for-her-rendition-of-vande-mataram-viral-post-1736978-2020-11-01|url-status=live|access-date=2021-06-02|website=India Today|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-11-01|title=4-year-old girl’s rendition of ‘Maa Tujhe Salaam’ has a new fan: PM Modi|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/trending/trending-in-india/4-year-old-mizo-girls-maa-tujhe-salaam-cover-has-left-netizens-mesmerised-6908278/|access-date=2021-06-02|website=The Indian Express|language=en}}</ref> The poster caricature shows Hnamte in a Mizo traditional attire waving the Indian tricolour, and bears the slogan: "Esthereal performance! Amul vandeful taste."<ref name=":6" />

==Olympics==
Amul was seen to come up with an association with Cricket World Cup and Formula-One Racing. Amul was the official sponsor of the Indian team for dairy products for the [[2012 Summer Olympics|2012 Olympic Games]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Action at amul|url=http://www.amul.com/m/action-at-amul|publisher=Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd.|accessdate=14 May 2012}}</ref>

==Controversies==

In 2001, Amul ran an ad campaign criticizing the [[Indian Airlines]] strike; the latter threatened to stop offering Amul butter on their flights unless the ads were pulled. Another ad during [[Ganesh Chaturthi]] which said, ''Ganpati Bappa More Ghya'' (Ganpati Bappa take more). The [[Shiv Sena]] party said that if the ad wasn't removed, they would come and destroy Amul's office.<ref>[http://www.tribuneindia.com/2001/20010304/spectrum/main7.htm Utterly butterly adorable campaign] by Gaurav Sood in The Tribune Spectrum (4 March 2001)</ref> In July 2011, an ad criticizing [[Suresh Kalmadi]] led to trouble in Pune, while an ad poking fun at [[Mamata Banerjee]] in December 2011 led to problems in [[Kolkata]]. Subsequently, another ad with Banerjee was released all over India except in Kolkata in March 2012.<ref>Indrajit Hazra, [http://www.hindustantimes.com/business-news/Features/Jest-like-that-Girl-with-the-Amul-tattoo/Article1-881561.aspx Jest like that: Girl with the Amul tattoo] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120630225114/http://www.hindustantimes.com/business-news/Features/Jest-like-that-Girl-with-the-Amul-tattoo/Article1-881561.aspx |date=June 30, 2012 }}, July 01, 2012, Hindustan Times, Retrieved July 01, 2012</ref>

In 2011, when they came up with ‘Maine kyaa khaya' ("What did I eat?", where the word 'eat' bears the meaning of either directly accepting a bribe or indirectly profiting from an illegal act, in the Hindi language) for Suresh Kalmadi over the [[Concerns and controversies over the 2010 Commonwealth Games|2010 Commonwealth Games scam]], they ran into trouble. “He was found guilty, he was in jail, his party had abandoned him. But party workers in Pune actually pulled down the hoarding,” recalls a bewildered da Cunha.

There have been some laughable protests as well. When they wrote [[Satyam scandal|‘Satyam Sharam Scandalum!']] for [[Mahindra Satyam|Satyam Computer Services]] Ltd.'s disgraced chairman [[Byrraju Ramalinga Raju|Ramalinga Raju]], he says, “We got a formal letter from the Satyam Board threatening us with dire consequences: all their employees would stop eating Amul butter!”.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.amul.com/story.html The Amul Mascot Story] at [[Amul]] website

[[Category:Food advertising characters]]
[[Category:Female characters in advertising]]
[[Category:Fictional children]]
[[Category:Mascots introduced in 1967]]
[[Category:Advertising in India]]
[[Category:Indian mascots]]

Amul girl - Revision history

Delinker at 11:49, 31 July 2023