First Sponsorship Television Serial

Hum Log was the first Soap Opera in Indian Television to have been sponsored by a company.

Hum log launched the era of commercially sponsored programs on Doordarshan. A sponsored television program is one for which the advertiser pays the production costs of a program, in return for several minutes of spot advertisements, before, during, or immediately following the broadcast. Here lies a unique sustenance quality of entertainment-education programs: Their production costs can be underwritten, making the educational message pay for itself. Commercial interests can be served without sacrificing social interests. The sponsor of Hum Log was Food Specialties Limited. The product advertised was Maggi 2-Minute Noodles, a radical consumer innovation in India.

The story of Maggi 2-Minute Noodles in India demonstrates how the rapid diffusion of television, the popularity of Hum Log, and organizational innovations in marketing and advertising can launch an alien product in a developing country. Food Specialists Limited (FSL), who marketed Maggi Noodles in India, is a subsidiary of Nestle, a Swiss Multinational Corporation. In 1984, FSL introduced Maggi 2-Minute Noodles, a new food product in India. For many years, Nestle had sold Maggi Noodles in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Japan.

Noodles in India were conceived as a very Chinese product. So FSL’s task was to portray Noodles as an Indian product. FSL developed tastemakers, a small packet of flavoring, including masala, chicken, capsicum, and garlic, making the taste of Maggi Noodles Indian. An effective marketing and advertising strategy was needed next. Most Indian hot snacks, for example, samosas and jalebis, are difficult to prepare. The appeal of Maggi Noodles was convenience. The slogan was “Fast to cook and good to eat.”

Initially, FSL executives doubted whether an Indian homemaker would accept the idea of a quicj preparation hot snack. Hence television advertising was aimed at persuading...