Advertisements are frequently loaded with celebrities promoting product features. Despite their high profiles, however, such campaigns can often feel formulaic and struggle to truly captivate audiences. Ads that resonate and build lasting trust are few and far between. For emerging brands, creating memorable campaigns that break through the clutter becomes an even greater challenge.
One approach that successfully addresses this challenge is the ‘Kidult’ concept, where children play adult roles. Popularised by Flipkart’s campaigns, this approach introduced a playful, fresh angle to advertising. Flipkart first ventured into the ‘kidult’ genre with its 2011 campaign, ‘No Kidding. No Worries.’, conceptualised by Happy Creative Services (known as Happy mcgarrybowen following its acquisition by Dentsu). This child-adult twist enabled Flipkart to stand out amid celebrity-heavy ad landscapes and engage audiences effectively.
The initial challenges
Kidults came into the picture when Naren Kaushik Mudrakartha, AVP, Creative, Mayhem Studios, joined Happy Creative Services in 2010 as a copywriter. The agency had bagged the creative duties for Myntra and Flipkart during the pitch process. “E-commerce was not really a big thing back then. There were still a lot of concerns about transacting online. COD did not really exist at that point in time. There were multiple challenges about selling stuff online and how purchases would happen.”
Kartik Iyer, Praveen Das, Ameya Lokhande and Naren Kaushik
In a landscape where online shopping was not only new but also intimidating, what kind of creative ideas could help a brand build trust? Mundrakartha was reminded of an observation from Adman Piyush Pandey. He remarked, “Piyush Pandey had once said that stories featuring animals, old people and children give a lot of entertainment value, watchability and even reliability to a large extent.”
A global study suggests that adults tend to experience enjoyment when viewing cute images or objects. Brain imaging scans showed that when participants looked at pictures of infants, neural activity was triggered within a seventh of a second in the medial orbitofrontal cortex, a region associated with reward responses. In contrast, no such brain activity was observed when participants viewed pictures of adults. It has also been observed that using kids in advertising or for any other type of communication for brand building is likely to positively affect the consumers’ brand preference and purchase intentions.
In a previous conversation with Social Samosa, Chandramouli Nilakantan, CEO, TRA Research said, “Children doing kidult roles attract quick attention of audiences, and often are the reason for a smile in the audiences, and give the unexpected from an ad. For example, financial advice by kids is completely unexpected, and that itself generates interest.”
Understanding this consumer psyche has worked well for Flipkart’s campaign.
Conceptualisation
While the concept of a campaign centred around ‘kidults’ has now become highly successful, inspiring numerous brands to adopt similar approaches, convincing stakeholders of its potential was not straightforward. In the initial stages, selling the idea to sceptics was a challenge. Mundrakartha wrote the script in a believer and non-believer format. Reflecting on this, Mundrakartha said, “We presented it to a focus group and it didn’t do very well at the research level, because it was a new concept and we didn’t have a reference point to show. A lot of people didn’t grasp the creative device of the kid-adults campaign.”
However, Mundrakartha noted that the messaging crafted through the dialogues and interactions between the believer and non-believer format cut through to a lot of people.
Despite the lukewarm response to the initial steps, Mundrakartha and the team recognised that audiences still resonated with the campaign’s messaging, even if the concept of ‘kidults’ itself was initially unfamiliar. Taking this leap, driven by confidence in the campaign’s core message, was ultimately a risk that paid off.
Happy proposed working with KM Ayappa, an ad filmmaker from the production house Footcandles. Mundrakarta notes that Ayappa had a lot of inputs which were good for the campaign, right from makeup, to professional coaching and workshops for the kids on acting, cosmetics, set design and more.
As a result, the campaign led to a significant surge in Flipkart’s performance, with website traffic, orders, and revenue all doubling. In August 2011, Flipkart was generating Rs 30 crore per month, but by the end of the campaign, this figure surpassed Rs 60 crore monthly. Website traffic skyrocketed to 100 lakh visits per month, accompanied by 1000 lakh page views. As a result, Flipkart climbed to become one of the top 30 websites in the country, surpassing eBay in Alexa rankings, and established itself as the largest e-commerce player for physical goods in India. Notably, the campaign also shifted the focus toward new electronics categories, with their contribution rising from 40% to 60% over the two-month period.
Kidults over the years
Following its success, the brand launched many more campaigns featuring kids.
But the company did not let go of the concept, Flipkart Fashion launched its ‘India Ka Fashion Capital’ (IKFC) campaign almost two years ago, featuring Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, and Kidults.
In a newer version of the ads, the company also showed kidults as the characters from the popular movie Munnaibhai M.B.B.S in a seperate series of ads.
However, there have been concerns regarding the ethically featuring children in advertisements. In a previous conversation, Dr Jyoti Kapoor, Founder Director of Manasthali, said, “I think there’s nothing wrong with kidults. What’s more important is what’s being conveyed. Kids acting as adults in ads catch your attention and it works in that way. However, if we portray reacting to an adult in a manner that is disrespectful, that definitely sends out a misleading message that it is acceptable. It is important to keep this in mind from a psychological perspective.”
Other brands
Over the years, other brands have attempted to emulate the success brought on by kidults. Cleartrip, a Flipkart company, while aiming to change how Indians perceived travel, brought back ‘kidults’ for its TBBD campaign.
BigBasket released an ad that showed a kid selling its quick delivery service. While the advertisement has a kid in the lead, it appears to be targeting adults who can use quick delivery apps.
Has kidults lost its charm?
Children have been a fixture in television advertisements since the medium’s early days, from the beloved Amul girl to Nirma’s mascot and Dhara’s Jalebi kid, effectively promoting products ranging from detergent to edible oil. However, opinions are divided on the use of kids in advertising today.
However, the concept, which has been a defining feature of Flipkart’s advertising for over a decade, has started to lose its charm according to industry experts. While it was initially well-received, the novelty has worn off over time. Experts even suggested that the campaign may have outlived its purpose.
“Flipkart’s kids-as-adults was conceived at a time when e-commerce was in its infancy in India. It served a specific purpose to convey that ‘e-commerce was as easy as child’s play’. But after more than a decade, and after that creative device has been uniquely associated with Flipkart, I believe that device has outlived its purpose and relevance. Now, when I see kids dressed as adults and talk about products like lipstick or attending weddings, I find it more creepy than cute,” said Karthik Srinivasan, an independent communications expert, in a conversation with Social Samosa.
While ads featuring ‘kidults’ can be uniquely engaging, brands should tread thoughtfully to avoid crossing into overly commercialised or ‘creepy’ territory. Respectful scripting is essential, keeping dialogues age-appropriate and positive ensures the charm of kids remains intact without sending mixed messages. Ultimately, as the landscape evolves, it’s vital for brands to refresh their approaches, ensuring their use of kids continues to connect authentically with audiences.
