THE GOOD THING ABOUT BAGCO STORY

by LANRE ADISA

Posted on 24 Oct 2008

 

 

The Good Thing About The Bagco Story

It’s been a long while we saw anything new from Bagco. The first Bagco commercial was a watershed of sorts for its time. It was a slice of life inspired by the agit-prop culture otherwise known as aluta on Nigerian campuses. It was most unusual at different levels. Bagco sacks until the campaign broke were no more than mere commodities; there was nothing remotely mass about them. The commercial changed all that by creating a mass brand out of an otherwise B2B commodity. There was something refreshing about seeing men all dabbed in cement powder chanting “We no go gree” on TV in a country where most commercials featured over made up actors (they still are!).  It was simply real and resonant.

After fifteen years since that first commercial, it’s quite heart-warming to see another Bagco commercial that is down to earth. There are no more protesting labourers. In their place we now have a handful of children enjoying a folktale under the moonlight. It’s equally interesting to see good old Sam Loco in the lead role of Mr. Last Kobo. While the plot may have changed, what the old and new commercials have in common is their use of local insights to demonstrate the inherent attributes of the bag, especially its toughness. In this commercial, we are told the story of a niggardly Sam Loco who by nature will use and use every possession to death, extracting more than his money’s worth from it. He finds more than a match in Bagco super sack. There are moments of humour in the burlesque performance, but most remarkable is the suggestive joke (coming from one of the kids) about how he might use his new wife.

So what’s novel about this commercial? For me it’s the use of the dying art of communal story telling under the moonlight and how it’s been used with relevance to continue the never ending tale of Bagco toughness without the usual Nigerian resort to hard sell. More importantly is the fact that it is a Nigerian story. Sadly, we hardly see enough of ourselves in our communication these days. That is a great challenge facing our industry. It will appear we are a tad out of tune with things happening around us. What we get in return is communication that is more pretentious than resonant. Just think back, the commercials that have scored biggest with our audiences over the years are the ones with a huge dose of resonance. Think back to the ETB “Tally Number” commercial, the old Seaman’s Schnapps spot, and of late MTN’s “Na Boy” commercial.

I’m not advocating a return to some kind of cultural exhibitionism for the sake of being Nigerian. What we need is a body of work that celebrates who we are in a smart way that is intelligible enough to anyone anywhere in the world. This is the only way we can distinguish ourselves in a vastly globalised world. As globalised as this world is, British advertising is differentiable from American or Australian advertising. Advertising coming out of India, Malaysia, South Africa and South America reeks of their provenance without compromising their brilliance. And they’ve been winning to boot.

The new Bagco commercial may not necessarily be a show stopper in that sense, but it is a pointer to the future if we really need to differentiate our industry: more local insights; more local colour. That to me is the reason the new Bagco commercial has bagged my admiration.

 

 

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Comments

1. I really agree with you. The truth is; if we are to be recognized for anything great in life, we have to be unique, as individuals, a group or nation. That uniqueness will be our flavour, a factor that will distinguish us any day.
   Thanks for reminding us of something we have long forgotten.
   Sharon
   Posted by William on 28 Jan 2009

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