Gattu: The Mascot of Asian Paints

We are talking about the era when cartoon mascots were very popular. Our very own Gattu conceived in the year 1954 by R.K. Laxman when he was searching for inspiration for an idea for the Asian Paints mascot. The story goes that he saw an image of a little boy with a paintbrush in a cloud of smoke while chain-smoking, and thus Gattu was born. However, they could not decide on a name, and as a result of which a contest was organized  ‘Give Me A Name’. The prize money of Rs 500 was decided. The contest was won by two people who suggested the name Gattu amongst the 47,000 entries which were received. 

Gattu has always been portrayed as a mischievous brat who was always involved in doing bratty things. He always had a paintbrush and a can of paint with him, with a tagline “Any surface that needs painting needs Asian Paints”. In fact, in one of the ads, he was also shown painting a bald man’s head.

He caught the attention of the public primarily because he was so different and also because people knew that he was drawn by the great R.K. Laxman himself. Sales of Asian paints apparently went up 10-fold over the next four years. In spite of this, it is believed that Gattu was not a very endearing character and the humor of Laxman’s early cartoons was slightly puerile.

The account then moved to Ogilvy when R.K. Laxman stopped drawing Gattu cartoons. By this time, Gattu has already been a popular figure for Asian Paints. He became an inseparable part of Asian Paints advertisements. No matter what the ad would be Gattu with his paint-brush had to be pasted on in the bottom right corner.

In the year, the 1990s. Ogilvy decided to give up Gattu and replace it with the Asian Paints logo to give the brand a premium vibe. Even though Gattu seemed to have become almost a deity of the company’s fortunes in the 1990s, Ogilvy managed to convince Asian paints to become universal to scale up, especially post-economic reforms and the opening up of the Indian markets. In fact, sources tell, that when Asian Paints reluctantly agreed to the decision, the top management decided to visit R.K. Laxman to personally explain their reasons. The brand was recognized more by the mascot and thus to remove any ambiguity this had to be done.

Finally, in 2002, the mascot was replaced by the brand’s logo. Although it was considered as Aa mistake by many, it survived. 

In fact, when in the year 2015, R.K. Laxman passed away, Asian Paints paid a tribute to the legend with a poster featuring Gattu in the frame.

About the Author:

Aditi Garg is an MBA student, filled with curiosity to learn and explore more of the Digital Marketing World. As a Digital Marketing Executive at Social Buzz, Aditi takes an active part in curating content, and strategizing marketing campaigns to execute them with perfection!

References:

• https://theprint.in/features/gattu-the-mischievous-asian-paints-mascot-who-ruled-indian-hearts-for-over-50-years/481697/
• https://www.business-standard.com/article/management/40-years-ago-and-now-gattu-s-antics-coloured-asian-paints-future-115021201710_1.html