VIP Chaddies 'n Undies Ads from the 1980s

VIP first started making briefs for men in 1971. Jaikumar Pathare and L Jaipal Reddy, two electrical engineers of the Maharashtra State Electricity Board left their jobs and started making underwear because they realized there was no competition. ( And when they did first have competition, in mid-1980s, it came from a brand oddly named Rupa)

The brief was first worn by a young man named Dalip Tahil in an ad that proved to be an instant hit - an eye grabber. The plot of the ad that made VIP synonymous with underwear was simple, and it had a subtle touch of Superman iconography:  A beautiful woman is being harassed on the road by a laffanga. To her rescue comes a man dressed only in a bathrobe and an underwear. And he makes a grand entrance jumping from a balcony - camera capturing his underwear while he is coming down, his rob flying - he lands down on the road, grabs hold of the dame in distress and Karate chops the bad guy. And then we realize it was all a dream sequence of that woman. The guy wakes up the woman inside a car and asks, "Dreaming about me?"

Following is a later variant of that ad. This one also hit the screen in 1980s and cleverly just made use of the Print Ad of VIP:

Things begin to happen in style
With a VIP Frenchie under your belt. 

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I think the Hindi version of the Ad had the line: Kya hai uske paas jo mere paas nahi

I lot of people thought it was a strange ad. Well, the whole business of underwear in India is strange.

Take a look at this classic Ad from the 1980s. This one was also by VIP but directed at women after they got into the business of making Panties.

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I think the model was Vanessa Vaz, can't mistake those brows [an old photo by photographer Swapan Mukherjee]. Also, I believe cover of the packet had some other model...the brows are trimmed.

It was a strange Ad. Now that I see it again, I can't make sense of it. What exactly are they trying to say. Guess they were just trying to sell some panties without showing any skin on national TV. Tough.

And it's funny that his Ad still bordered on, "Chintu, go fetch me a glass of water...fetch me yesterday's newspaper...there's some one at the gate, go check, I heard a ring, go check who rang up the phone, go study, switch off that idiot box,  it's bad for your brain. Nonsense!"

Only one channel. No remote. As television started heating up, these were the standard evasive actions performed by worried parents.

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Check out rest of the retro ads from the series here