dvertising for snack food brands tends to take a light view of life. Monaco�s latest TVC about the youngster who runs away from the ticket collector even though he has a ticket (just to harass that officer of the gate), is in keeping with that pattern. So too is the other commercial in the campaign about a young man having a laugh at the cost of some earnest foreign tourists. The ads end with the super, �Life Namkeen Banaiye�. The commercials are well done and entertaining, and have been among the five most commented TVCs on agencyfaqs! this month (at last count, there were 44 comments posted).

Interesting too is the way the confectionery major has managed to keep this old brand salient. Says Shalin Desai, brand manager, Parle Products Ltd, "Monaco has been one of our focus brands and we have consistently invested in it. Being in the salty category, it has always been portrayed as a good snacking option." Within the salty biscuit category which is estimated to be around 3 per cent of the overall organised biscuit market in India, Monaco was positioned as a base for toppings in the mid-nineties.... more