Getting stuck, whether in a bad relationship, old unhealthy patterns or old schools of thought, can definitely hinder the peace of mind and progress of individuals as well as society, as a whole. That is where Fastrack’s advertising campaign, titled “Move On”, comes in. Fastrack is an Indian youth fashion brand that espouses confidence and self-expression.
It has a wide collection of youth fashion accessories such as sunglasses, bags, wallets and watches. It is a brand that represents snazzy eccentricity and rebellion in its designs. But these elements are not restricted to its designs. They also reflect in Fastrack’s ad campaigns that reflect and influence youth culture.
“Move On” is a controversial ad campaign by Fastrack which has earned itself admirers as well as critics. The move on campaign has been executed in three different ways till now.
1. The original idea behind the campaign was to show the relevance of “moving on” from things that are limiting. One of the advertisements features a young couple moving on after a dispute. After exchanging what seems like a courteous smile, the boy and girl go on to exchange, what are apparently, gifts they got from each other during their relationship including a Fastrack watch and sunglasses.
As they go their different ways, the guy takes out a new pair of Fastrack sunglasses from his pocket in order to impress the girls around him. The girl flips out another watch and wears it looking visibly happy. The advertisement portrays the core message of “moving on” from a bad relationship while remaining loyal to Fasttrack! This ad surely caught the fancy of the youth and garnered great publicity for the brand.
2. The second campaign featured Virat Kohli and Genelia D’Souza. The ads at this stage of the campaign are shown in monochrome to represent an old era. One of the advertisements features Virat and Genelia sitting together, their body language denoting that they are a couple. Soon after, Virat gets a call on his landline (underscoring a bygone era) and gets occupied. Genelia gets impatient as he continues the conversation and eventually leaves. The ad ends with the statement “Why the world moved on to answering machines”. The message was to “move on” to stay relevant.
3. The latest campaign involved a series of short ads representing socio-cultural issues that are controversial. These ads are bright and colourful, representing the youthfulness of the brand. One of the ads shows a couple inflating a large playhouse and moving in. The ad ends with bold white-coloured text saying “Live in. Move on.”, hence encouraging those who want to have live-in relationships to go ahead and do so.
Another of the ads under this campaign show two girls walking out of a bright pink closet, one by one, tugging at their clothes with the copy “Come out of the closet. Move on.”, thus encouraging homosexuals to embrace their sexuality.
All these ads talk about being bold in accepting issues considered taboo, especially when it’s about accepting oneself.
The Fasttrack advertisement campaigns are known for their edginess and in-your-face sexual connotations. Regardless of the opinions for and against these ads, they have managed to garner a lot of attention and therefore, a lot of publicity for the brand. More importantly, the brand has now become a medium of expression for the youth and a part of their culture.
