Tata Sky airs longest ever Indian television commercial

Mumbai, April 18, 2013: Tata Sky’s latest TVC called ‘Prison break’ could well be on its  way  into  the Limca Book of Records  for being  the longest TV commercial to be telecast in the history of Indian advertising, with a run time of 210 seconds  or 3 minutes & 30 seconds. In today’s day and age, when marketers are constantly trying to reduce durations of TV commercials, Tata Sky has taken a bold step by airing the longest ever TVC, to retain the creative impact of the story.

The film is an extremely fast paced commercial with Hollywood like production values. The slick shots and camera movement, along with tantalizing music make it an intensely gripping commercial. Tata Sky’s advertising agency, Ogilvy & Mather worked with Vivek Kakkad, Director - Curious Films to shoot the commercial.  The TVC was shot with an international cast and crew in an actual prison in Hungary.

Commenting on the new commercial, Mr. Vikram Mehra, Chief Marketing Officer, said “The campaign idea was based on the insight that people these days do not find any time to watch television. Tata Sky+ HD, with its recording feature allows busy people to record their favorite programs and watch them at leisure. In other words, it’s ‘For those who don’t have time to watch TV’. “ 

The story revolves around a bunch of foreign convicts imprisoned in an Indian jail. These convicts conspire to escape when they realize that a cricket match is being played between India and Pakistan, assuming that the match would keep the Indian guards and the jailer occupied. But when the jailer and his men intercept their escape, the convicts are fumbled by what kind of Indian doesn’t watch such an epic match. That’s when the clincher kicks in – ‘a hard working Indian’, who with Tata Sky+ HD, can record it & watch it at his own time.

In addition to TV channels, the TVC will also be screened in Cinemas.