262:
The ads had a mischievous looking girl in a white dress with red polka-dots and blue hair, poking fun at major celebrities and newsmakers. They were noted for their news topical relevance and tongue-in-cheek wit and humour. It was one of the longest running campaigns in India, and remained active at
263:
the time of da Cunha's death. To create the central figure, da Cunha worked with over 712 babies' photographs before zeroing in on a photograph of 10-month-old Shoba
Tharoor (later Shoba Tharoor Srinivasan) as the inspiration for the mascot. Tharoor was the younger sister of Indian politician
259:. The campaign was created in 1966, by which time da Cunha was ASP's managing director, where he was given the task to create a mascot and help position Amul as a brand among mothers and children. Da Cunha teamed up with illustrator and art director Eustace Fernandes to create the ads.
223:
Da Cunha started his advertising career in 1951 at L. A. Stronach
Advertising, a British advertising agency. He worked in their London liaison office for three years before returning to India. On his trip back on the boat he was offered a job by John Kurien, a manager with the
294:
Da Cunha was also involved in
English language theatre in India. He was a founding member of the Theatre Group of Bombay. He was among the first to combine Hindi and English language into plays, which was not common at the time. Some of his popular plays included
274:
Da Cunha later went on to found his own advertising company Da Cunha
Associates in 1969, after spending 14 years at ASP. He brought some of ASP's clients with him to Da Cunha Associates, including Amul. Some of the other major accounts of that time included
1304:
321:
In the 1980s and 1990s, da Cunha was also part of various social development initiatives. During this time, he served as a population and nutritional consultant with the
Information, Education, and Communication unit of the
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271:, who had a similar mascot of a girl who was soft and well-mannered. This prompted da Cunha to model the Amul girl as a mischievous girl taking a dig at ongoing current events.
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123:(19 October 1930 – 21 June 2023) was an Indian advertising professional and theatre personality. He was most famously known for creating the
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267:, and went on to become a children's author. The campaign and the mascot was noted to have been in response to the incumbent market leader
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228:'s Advertising and Sales Promotions (ASP) agency. At ASP, da Cunha initially handled some of the Birla group's inhouse brands like
188:, physician and historian, had written one of the first historical works documenting the origins of Bombay, somewhat aptly titled,
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326:, traveling within India, and to various countries including Brazil, Turkey and Zambia. He also served as a consultant to the
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1034:"My biggest learning in a 30-minute meeting with late Shri R K Krishna Kumar (KK), Tata Group veteran: Yesudas S Pillai"
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287:. Da Cunha handed over creation of Amul's topical advertisements to his son Rahul in 1993. The campaign holds the
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346:. The couple had a son, Rahul da Cunha, also an advertising professional; Sylvester's brother,
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were satirical sketches on everyday life. He also directed and acted in an adaptation of
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360:, wore suits, had a sprawling 500-year-old home in Arpora village, and even knew what
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Da Cunha was married to Nisha da Cunha, an author and earlier an
English professor at
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1326:
1125:
712:"Alyque Padamsee: The secret of my double life in Indian advertising and theatre"
225:
946:"How Amul became an advertising ICON despite spending only 1% of sales on ads"
323:
136:
1065:"Truly a ladies' Olympics, says da Cunha on Amul's tribute to women athletes"
757:
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128:
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135:. He also served as a consultant to multinational agencies including the
1327:"Sylvester daCunha: Tributes for creator of India's iconic Amul girl ad"
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177:
168:
164:
140:
63:
44:
1230:
Shoveling Smoke: Advertising and
Globalization in Contemporary India
787:"Sylvester daCunha, the man behind the iconic Amul Girl passes away"
635:
633:
1095:"Amul's 'Utterly Butterly' campaign creator Sylvester daCunha dead"
856:"Sylvester daCunha, the man behind iconic Amul Girl campaign, dies"
237:
156:
1173:
Consuming modernity : public culture in a South Asian world
356:
described da Cunha as someone who "spoke
Portuguese better than
252:
132:
350:, was also an advertising professional. A 2018 article in the
1008:
Brand positioning : strategies for competitive advantage
826:"Who Is Sylvester daCunha? Man Behind Amul Girl Passes Away"
367:
Da Cunha died in Mumbai on 21 June 2023, at the age of 92.
916:"How Sylvester daCunha picked the first-ever Amul baby"
1297:"Maska Maarke: Oh poie! Goan food is back with a bang"
232:
and
Century Rayon, before handling accounts including
332:
196:. Da Cunha lost his father, in 1941, when he was 11.
145:
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
1176:. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. 1995.
192:. Da Cunha Sr. was also the family physician of the
886:"Meet Sylvester daCunha, The Man Behind The Iconic"
155:Da Cunha was born on 19 October 1930 into a Bombay
107:
99:
91:
79:
71:
52:
30:
23:
147:on various projects linked to food and nutrition.
976:"Sylvester daCunha – One Of The Original Mad Men"
385:"Gerson da Cunha, adman who wore many hats, dead"
525:. Concept Publishing Company. pp. 118–119.
247:Da Cunha was best known for his creation of the
184:was also an advertising professional. His uncle
291:for the longest running advertising campaign.
8:
522:Profiles of Eminent Goans, Past and Present
16:Indian advertising professional (1930–2023)
490:"Goodbye, Gerson, the Bombay boy bows out"
251:campaign for the Indian dairy cooperative
215:as a Parvin fellow between 1964 and 1965.
20:
1267:"Nisha da Cunha weaves melancholy tales"
163:descent. His family was originally from
131:mascot for the Indian dairy cooperative
376:
746:"Indian advertising's "Mad Men" years"
1227:Mazzarella, William (5 August 2003).
1032:Pillai, Yesudas S. (3 January 2023).
820:
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814:
812:
781:
779:
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710:Padamsee, Alyque (17 November 2018).
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447:"Ad Guru departs | The Navhind Times"
7:
671:Padamsee, Alyque (14 October 2000).
587:
585:
475:Illustrated Weekly Special Goa Issue
440:
438:
416:INFA Press and Advertisers Year Book
255:, which saw the introduction of the
172:in North Goa and later moved to the
1394:Indian people of Portuguese descent
539:from the original on 9 January 2022
500:from the original on 8 January 2022
395:from the original on 8 January 2022
1404:21st-century Indian businesspeople
1399:20th-century Indian businesspeople
472:Illustrated Weekly (7 June 1970).
14:
1333:from the original on 24 June 2023
1307:from the original on 24 June 2023
1277:from the original on 24 June 2023
1247:from the original on 25 June 2023
1208:from the original on 25 June 2023
1152:from the original on 25 June 2023
1142:"Sylvie is now a star in the sky"
1105:from the original on 24 June 2023
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1044:from the original on 25 June 2023
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956:from the original on 24 June 2023
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866:from the original on 24 June 2023
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797:from the original on 24 June 2023
764:from the original on 24 June 2023
722:from the original on 24 June 2023
691:from the original on 25 June 2023
649:from the original on 25 June 2023
642:The Indian & Eastern Engineer
601:from the original on 25 June 2023
570:from the original on 24 June 2023
453:from the original on 23 June 2023
423:from the original on 25 June 2023
334:on food and nutrition projects.
180:) where he grew up. His brother
1130:. New York: Theatre Arts Books.
1011:. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill.
623:Press And Advertisers Year Book
594:Press and Advertisers Year Book
445:Times, Navhind (23 June 2023).
620:Infa Publications, New Delhi.
307:. Many of his plays including
1:
1374:Indian advertising executives
176:neighbourhood of Bombay (now
127:advertising campaign and the
344:St. Xavier's College, Mumbai
1389:Princeton University alumni
597:. Infa Publications. 2002.
560:"My uncle, Gerson da Cunha"
419:. INFA Publications. 1978.
1425:
1329:. BBC News. 22 June 2023.
1198:"Flash back: In memory of"
1124:Gāragī, Balawanta (1962).
1005:Sengupta, Subroto (1990).
234:Life Insurance Corporation
201:Bachelor of Arts (honours)
1379:Indian advertising people
1233:. Duke University Press.
1063:kavitha (5 August 2021).
519:Vaz, J. Clement (1997).
75:Advertising professional
1409:Businesspeople from Goa
920:The Hindu Business Line
199:Da Cunha completed his
1384:Indian theatre people
289:Guinness World Record
190:The Origins of Bombay
213:Princeton University
186:José Gerson da Cunha
66:, Maharashtra, India
1099:The Indian Express
980:Free Press Journal
750:The Times of India
558:NADAR, A. GANESH.
494:Free Press Journal
389:The Times of India
277:Britannia biscuits
209:mass communication
207:and later studied
203:in economics from
121:Sylvester da Cunha
25:Sylvester da Cunha
1240:978-0-8223-8519-6
1183:978-0-8166-2305-1
1018:978-0-07-462401-2
684:978-93-5118-777-6
532:978-81-7022-619-2
205:Bombay University
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301:It is not funny!
249:Utterly Butterly
230:Hindustan Motors
125:Utterly Butterly
83:Creation of the
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1303:. 8 June 2018.
1301:Hindustan Times
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348:Gerson da Cunha
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313:Vijay Tendulkar
283:, Nutramul and
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182:Gerson da Cunha
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112:Gerson da Cunha
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47:, British India
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41:19 October 1930
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677:. Penguin UK.
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80:Known for
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60:(aged 92)
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1335:. Retrieved
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58:(2023-06-21)
56:21 June 2023
18:
1364:2023 deaths
1359:1930 births
1271:India Today
1069:The Federal
1038:MediaNews4U
674:Double Life
309:Topsy-Turvy
305:Topsy-Turvy
226:Birla group
1353:Categories
371:References
324:World Bank
161:Portuguese
159:family of
151:Early life
143:, and the
137:World Bank
72:Occupation
37:1930-10-19
890:India.com
758:0971-8257
716:Scroll.in
543:8 January
504:8 January
399:8 January
257:Amul girl
129:Amul girl
114:(brother)
108:Relatives
85:Amul girl
1331:Archived
1305:Archived
1275:Archived
1245:Archived
1206:Archived
1150:Archived
1103:Archived
1073:Archived
1042:Archived
984:Archived
954:Archived
924:Archived
894:Archived
864:Archived
834:Archived
830:BQ Prime
795:Archived
762:Archived
720:Archived
689:Archived
647:Archived
645:. 1973.
599:Archived
568:Archived
537:Archived
498:Archived
451:Archived
421:Archived
393:Archived
362:feijoada
330:and the
285:Tata Tea
194:Aga Khan
174:Mazagaon
100:Children
87:campaign
1337:24 June
1311:24 June
1281:24 June
1251:25 June
1212:25 June
1156:25 June
1146:Mid-day
1109:24 June
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427:25 June
358:Konkani
317:Kamala.
1237:
1180:
1015:
950:buildd
756:
681:
564:Rediff
529:
364:was".
328:UNICEF
303:, and
219:Career
178:Mumbai
169:taluka
165:Bardez
141:UNICEF
92:Spouse
64:Mumbai
45:Bombay
281:Lakmé
242:Lakmé
238:Glaxo
1339:2023
1313:2023
1283:2023
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