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The icon who had held her stead for an astonishing 30 years is the Liril
girl. Shrinking attention spans and shifting trends notwithstanding, she
continues to epitomize exuberant freshness. The ubiquitous waterfall
has morphed into a glacier. The signature tune Laa la la la laa has
been tweaked to Uff yu maa. Why, its not even the customary lime-
green anymore. Variants like Icy Cool and Orange Fresh have brought
in new hues. But the effervescence of the Liril girls – from Karen Lunell
to the current nymph, Dipika Padukone – is comfortingly familiar.
When the ad was released, the audience was bowled over. The blithe
water sprite, the dancing waterfall, the catchy refrain – everything was
new and thrilling. The Liril girl became the metaphor for freshness and
at a deeper level, for freedom from the mundane. It struck a winning
chord with the Indian woman and Liril zoomed to the top of the
premium soap segment.
Karen’s romp in icy waterfalls continued for close to 10 years. Says
Kailash, “With each film, we experimented with new techniques like
flash cuts and slow motion. But we never took her away from the
waterfall”.
Anjali Jathar was still in college when she was signed on for Liril. She
was thrilled, but nothing prepared her for the ‘waterfall’ ordeal. She
enjoyed every moment of the filming, including the time in Nepal when
she almost drowned. “My raft had capsized and one of the overzealous
Nepalese assistants in an attempt to rescue me, ended up pulling me
into the rapid. He probably didn’t know I was an excellent swimmer. In
the end, I had to kick him and swim to safety”, she laughs.
An unrivalled market leader in the 1970s and 1980s, Liril was facing a
testing time in the 1990s. The woes began with a stagnant market and
aggressive competition from a slew of me-too brands. Besides, the girl-
in-waterfall had become predictable. To infuse variety, Liril introduced
a shower gel, Liril Active Gel.
Out went the waterfall and in came a car wash, and a new Liril girl –
Pooja Batra. The film had the leggy Miss India pull into a deserted car
wash, looking worse for wear. Then, the Liril Gel gives her an idea and
she jumps and dances in the burst of water, ending up as fresh as a
daisy.
While this was a marked departure from the previous Liril imagery as
well as the jingle, it wasn’t curtains for the waterfall yet.
The waterfall gushed once more in the next film and under it danced
the dimple, exuberant Preity Zinta. Preity had shot to fame as the
impish collegian in the Perk film. With Liril, she got a chance to display
her bubbly charm as well. It was a rockstar in the jungle theme. So she
drummed on plants, blew on reeds, swung on vines and generally let
her hair down.
Unlike the previous Liril girls, however, Preity didn’t turn blue in the icy
waterfall. The film was shot on a set where a waterfall was created
complete with exotic jungle plants and acrylic stones, because she
couldn’t swim!
In 1999, Liril turned blue for the first time with Liril Rainfresh, a blue
variant of Liril Lime. The film with Hrishita Bhatt dancing in the rain set
several precedents. The waterfall was done away with, the Liril girl was
brought to the city and there was a supporting cast as well.
After this, Liril launched a new orange variant – Liril Orange Fresh with
the zesty fragrance of orange. It also marked the debut of the new Liril
girl – Dipika Padukone.
“What we wanted to convey is that the Liril girl is so fresh, that she is
source of freshness, which she spread to all around” , explains Balki.
Thirty years is a long time for any brand icon. So is the mystique of the
Liril girl waning? There are two schools of thought. One led by her
creator, Alyque Padamsee who emphatically states, “ Bring back the
waterfall and Karen.” And the contemporary view that sees the Liril girl
evolving with time. But one fact is inescapable. The Liril girl is one of
the most enchanting and enduring fantasies spun by Indian
advertising. It will be a long while before her charisma fades.
CASE STUDY: LALITAJI
“We are migrating Surf to Surf Excel, as Surf has become generic and
many people today refer to any detergent as Surf. Besides, we feel
that this brand has the chance of attracting new users under the Excel
name,” says Sanjay Dube, Head, Market and Consumer Development,
Hindustan Lever Limited.
The jury’s still out, but HLL must hope that all those consumers who
swear by Lalitaji will soon be chanting, “Surf Excel hai na !”.