Ad that moved the nation

The second phase of the hugely-popular ad on television, radio and newspapers about military personnel being like ‘you and me’ is expected to run from November 15 with new shots but the same storyboard and the same song remain, its creators said.

Dilith Jayaweera, Joint Managing Director at Triad, the ad agency that created the idea and the concept of an ad that has moved the nation, said they were planning to ‘shoot’ the new series at Mavil Aru anicut, scene of bloody battles, last week but the schedule has been delayed due to unrest in the east.

“Shooting normally takes 20 days and the film has to be processed in India. We are shooting on film; its expensive but of a better quality,” he said, adding that the first ads were able to secure free advertising space in newspapers, TV and radio to the value of Rs 479 million. Another Rs 67 million worth was provide free from suppliers, tee shirts, etc.

“We got support from all the media who readily provided free space for a national project,” Jayaweera said adding that the total spend is much bigger than Unilever’s or Ceylinco’s annual budgets. The two companies are the biggest ad spenders.

Triad through its Triad-AID arm alone spent about Rs 5 million on the project. “We first conceived this idea after winning many trophies at the Chillies awards. Then we realizes that as Sri Lanka’s truly national agency we need to do something national,” he said recalling that they then initiated discussions with Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the late Major General Parami Kulatunga.

The story with true life characters – the male and female soldiers, the navy officer and airforce personnel are serving members of the armed forces – is essentially about these people being in all Sri Lankan families. “They are one of us. At least one person of an extended Sri Lankan family is in the military,” Jayaweera said.