Harvey Duncan, who handled the Dalda account at Lintas, created what was India's first multi-media advertising campaign in 1939.
That is where Lever's ad agency, Lintas, came into the picture. Ghee typically lends its taste and aroma when used as a cooking medium or even when sprinkled over food.Īs Sagar Boke, marketing head at Bunge India, the current owner of Dalda, explains, "The challenge for Dalda in the initial years was to drive home the point that it tasted just like desi ghee, had deep-frying properties like it, but unlike ghee, it wouldn't feel heavy either on the pocket or the palate."
The Indian public was far from convinced there could be any substitute for ghee. Thus, was born Dalda, which was introduced in 1937.īut, Lever's work was far from over. So the astute consumer goods marketer came up with a solution: The letter L standing for Lever was put right in the middle. Its stamp of ownership had to be there somewhere on the product. There was one pre-condition to the sale: The name Dada had to be retained. Sensing an opportunity to make inroads into the domestic vanaspati ghee market, Lever bought the rights to make Dada in India. It had also incorporated a company called Hindustan Vanaspati Manufacturing Company in 1931 for the purpose. The maker of home and personal care products had already entered food production by the early 20th century in Europe and was looking to produce vanaspati ghee in India. Lever Brothers, now Unilever (Hindustan Unilever in India), knew there was a market for a substitute for desi ghee, since many Indians could barely afford ghee. Vanaspati ghee, on the other hand, was a type of vegetable shortening made up of hydrogenated or highly saturated vegetable oil and made to mimic desi ghee.
Ghee was an expensive product and something that was used sparingly in Indian households - over weekends or when preparing a delicacy or a dessert. Had England's Lever Brothers not insisted on inserting the letter 'L' in the name, then perhaps, India's most loved vanaspati ghee would have been called Dada.ĭada was actually the name of the Dutch company that imported vanaspati ghee into India in the 1930s as a cheap substitute for desi ghee or clarified butter, prepared from cow's milk.