Twinkle twinkle little star,
How I wonder what you are.
A kite, a boat or a whale,
Let’s “Join the Dots” and start the game….

Can you teach your daughter to draw a whale by asking her to join those twinkling dots resting on the dark night canvas? Airtel’s new TVC "Join the Dots” can.

Airtel’s new TVC tells the story of a father and his daughter who are emotionally very close, even when physically far apart.

The connection between the two is represented by a simple thought – however far apart they may be, they can still see and share the same all-embracing sky.

The father is at a project site far away somewhere, supervising the work under progress at night, while the little girl is getting bored at home in the city.

Boredom and longing for the loved one soon takes over and she decides to draw, probably to add the missing colours in her present situation.

She picks up the phone, calls her dad and lets him know that she wants to draw and that he should help her in this venture. The father and daughter then embark upon probably the largest join-the-dots game ever played.

As the game gains pace, we only witness the excited face of the father and the starry eyed, amazed look on the face of the little girl. The camera pans to the sky where now, a giant whale is visible…as if bobbing up and down in the ocean that is the space.

Review: With this ad, Airtel continues with what has been one of the best advertising campaigns of our times. Nowhere in their ads do we get to hear inscrutable jargon of funky technicalities. It’s about emotions and our basic desires and how the technology can bring it to us. Technology, in the Airtel world, is thus viewed as the means to the end and not the end itself.

This brings us to our second point: the imagery. In the beginning of the ad, all we see is the dark sky, but after the game of point and draw, the previously foreboding sky has turned into jeweled raiment embellished with sparkling diamonds. This proves the moot point of the ad - technology used as a means of human happiness.

The use of children, and repeatedly so, in Airtel ads, comes across as a conscious attempt at portraying the simplicity of the idea. No fire breathing stands, no funny lines – its what-you-see-is-what-you-get. After all, in a world that’s all about people connecting and sharing information, why say no to the bonds of love?

Three cheers to Airtel. Three cheers to the sparkling dots.

Agency: Rediffusion DYR
Running time: 1 minute 2 seconds
ITV rating: * * * * *