Horlicks: Numbers

Horlicks: Numbers

Agency: JWT, Delhi, India
Creative Director: Soumitra Karnik
Art Director/Copywriter: Vedobroto Roy
Published: December 2005

Your rating: None Average: 9 (2 votes)

Comments

10/10 they don´t say a thing!

ivan's picture

I could solve it, because I read the Da Vinci Code, but I don't want to spoil it for you. Here is a clue: http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/jwt_directory

JWT did such a better job of it.

I'm feeling so stupid. Could you explain me the ad?

ivan's picture

It's the simplest form of code. Shall I give more hints?

But how is it related to the product?

WHAT?!!?!

I dont get it either. And if if this ad is not in Science Magazine is worthless.

DAMN! so now i have to count every letter of the alphabet and translate the..................i´ll buy another product

me too, if i knew enough about this one to buy it's competitor.

I guess horliks makes you smart enough to decipher code... i think... but perhaps not so smart at marketing/branding/advertising.

I like the intencion and the freshness, but.. it demands so much effort

this one is far simpler...
it was fun figuring out the other one tho...
was even more fun posting the solution so everybody feels dumb!!!
ha ha ha ha!!!!

:P

I really can't be bothered translating this. Can you please post the solution? Otherwise I'll have to sit here, all frustrated and lazy.

hmmm....something isnt working here...i cant enlarge the image...too small to read the numbers as it is......

www.ashlandic.com

this is bad advertising. it makes people look stupid and people dont like to feel stupid, especially by a product called horlicks

ivan's picture

Puzzles I can't solve make frustrated and alienated. True.

Hey justpassingby,

You are only as stupid as you make yourself out to be. I see something intriguing, i'd spend a few minutes on it! But then, you may be a suit.

Madasanadder, im glad you have a few minutes to kill but most professional working people dont.

I got it the first time JWT did it so this is no suprise for me but like someone said here, try to show it to your mum and see if she gets it.

ps if youre Soumitra Karnik, youre fired!

the product is meant for kids... Hence its meant to get kids to try and work their brains and spend some time thinking... Also it is a milk additive which is suppossed to make kids smarter... hence it makes sense...

wow, the fact that this is meant for kids just took it to a whole new low. it's art directed for a bank.

Okay, it's not the enigma code..., but if you've got a bit of time on your hands it's fun. However, what I can't figure out is, even when you do solve it, the line has little to do with any selling message for the product. Just a thought.

Exactly! The ratio of work to pay-off is waaaay out of proportion. But that's advertising, I guess.

Isn't this just an ad telling us to drink Horlics to get smarter? The viewer doesn't understand what is said hence the horlicks... just a guess

argh!!

if vedobroto wantd to put across the code decdoin message..he culd hav just put da vinci code's cover n 'powered by horlicks' on the right bottom corner..wuld hav appealed 2 larger audience...luks like JWT wantd to make an indian langdon at the client's expense.

I'm a great fan of this site. But never found a need to register. However, I created an account so that I can make this post.

While it is a forum for anything ad related. Can the creatives who shamelessly post work up do a little quality control, rather than posting everything they have done. Even CRAP!

It just wastes everybody's time.

ivan's picture

Ok, this is a third time I read this exact same comment. I'm happy to receive feedback, but I don't need to hear it so many times. Message received. Please stop.

I think there should be quality control on people who stumble upon these sites as well! Standard, go surf some porn or something!

BINGO !!!
Age doesn't always bring wisdom sometimes age comes alone
'some have it some don't'

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
A B C D E F G H I J K L

chintan ruparel's picture

i guess JWT is keeping up to its decoding ad...remember - "we do work that ppl like to spend time with"

Creative, pls take the ad you have done and show it your mother, and ask her to figure it out (before she makes the shopping list for this week).

Come to think of it, may be she should have given you some of that Horlicks when you were young.

BEEN DONE FOUR YEARS AGO. IDENTICAL IDEA. FOR MENSA SINGAPORE.

Can you please explain this ad

ivan's picture

So if you're smart or rather knowledgeable in criptography (and have plenty of time) you can figure out the the code and decipher the message. Each number stands for a letter. A=1, B=2, etc.

Ok, a full lengthy explanaiton for those who still don't get it.

The numbers seen on this ad correspond with the letters of the alphabet. i.e. A=1 B=2 C=3 D=4...P=16, Q=17, Y=25, Z=26.
When you read, memorise or note down the numbers and look for the corresponding letter, your making their puzzle. When you have finished theire puzzle, you read the translated message: Age doesn't always bring wisdom sometimes age comes alone
'some have it some don't'

Now you have read that it doesnt mean that yuor smart if your old, and this product helps making the kids a bit smarter.

Hope it helped

got it solved now... the solution is 42!!

If this one was posted in a puzzle-magazin, it's a straight 8/10. If not, it's a sure 0/10.

purplesimon's picture

Is the point of this that it's so boring to look at and solve that it puts you to sleep, just like Horlicks?

This kind of thing probably works when it's for a certain audience type; to me it's a simple case of JWT India not having any new ideas and having to use an old one they used before to showcase their own aegncy.

everartz's picture

hey guys... if A=1 B=2.....Z=26, what is zero gonna be??
why would i wanna spend all that time reading few words... whats the golden msg behind it!!!!

youre kidding right?

i still say horlicks is one of the worst brand names ever...horlicks, horswallows, horgetspaid.

www.ashlandic.com

can u explain me..?

Are you that lazy to read the comments above? There are whole explanaitions there

I view this website much as I would read a magazine, I see this and I click to the next page. You have only acouple of seconds to catch the viewer's interest and this doesn't do it for me. I've only stopped to post because so many of you are commenting. I have not and will not decipher these, not even for a thousand licks from a whore.

epoc.mak's picture

The Ad is too Crisp that it requires some time to understand.
Horlicks is a drink for smart kids. The ad is trying to say that when a child drinks it he/she becomes a master but at the end it is the kid who is drinking the Horlicks so he is not able to write correctily .

THE LINE IS---

Age dosen't always bring wisdom.
sometimes age comes alone.
----CONFUCIJUM

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