hen the Chinese herbalist Aw Chu Kin stumbled on the Tiger Balm formulation, he could never have imagined that it would become the world�s leading topical analgesic. The brand was brought to India by Elder pharmaceuticals and has witnessed low-key advertising. All that is set to change now with a new commercial inspired by Ang Lee�s Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. This is a marked departure from its earlier advertising. The new commercial by Bates is both improbable and entertaining.

Produced by Marlin Rodrigues of Maverick, the TVC for Tiger Balm Red opens to a woman drying her dupatta in the balcony of her high-rise flat, when she accidentally drops it. Without another thought she leaps off the balcony in pursuit. She performs various gravity-defying stunts on the way down. Just when she is about to catch her dupatta, an old man comes flying and catches it instead. With both of them hanging in mid-air, the old man addresses her as bahu. The girl demurely covers her head in mid-air itself on seeing her father-in-law. The voice over says, Tiger Balm Red ab dard se kya darna. The story is interspersed with shots of a leaping tiger.... more