Mumbai: Tributes are pouring in for the doyen of Indian advertising Sylvester daCunha, who conceived the iconic ‘utterly butterly delicious’ girl mascot of Amul, following his death in Mumbai on Tuesday at the age of 80.
The Amul announced his death on Wednesday. “Very sorry to inform about the sad demise of Shri Sylvester daCunha, chairman of daCunha Communications last night (Tuesday) at Mumbai,” said managing director of Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) Jayen Mehta.
The ad guru designed the “Amul Girl” ad campaign with a mischievous girl with blue hair and a polka-dotted dress in 1966 and it has since become an important part of the brand’s history while playing the role of a social commentor. The ads are known for tongue-in-cheek take on almost every significant event in India from politics to sports.
Several politicians, businessmen and advertising professionals took to Twitter to express their grief over daCunha’s death.
“Saddened by the passing of Amul’s ‘UtterlyButterly’ campaign creator Sylvester daCunha. He was a good friend of my father & they worked together on the Advertising Club’s magazine “Solus”, for which Dad wrote a pseudonymous column. An era has passed. RIP,” tweeted Congress MP Sashi Tharoor.
Sharing a favourite Amul ad of his, Trinamool Congress politician and ex-quiz master, Derek O’Brien wrote: “Sylvester daCunha, advertising legend, genius behind the iconic ‘Amul Girl’, met his Great Creator In The Sky. Much respect and admiration. Here’s one of my favourites from 2021. Pay tribute to Mr daCunha by sharing your most loved Amul ad.”
Here are some more tweets:
In respect for one of the towering figures of Indian advertising. 🙏🏽🙏🏽. It was the generation of people like #SylvesterdaCunha who planted the seed of advertising in my mind. He made the industry richer and I am delighted to see his gifted son, Rahul da Cunha, keep the tradition…
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) June 22, 2023
RIP Sylvester daCunha.. part of advertising, theatre and Mumbai history who designed the famous Amul campaign. 🙏🙏 https://t.co/F1EFtZQlXb
— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) June 21, 2023
Remembering my old friend Sylvie daCunha the great genius of Indian advertising who created the slogan ‘Utterly Butterly Amul’ & made Amul famous with one of the greatest campaigns in ad history.
He also was a brilliant theatre director staging Tendulkar’s Kamla & so much more pic.twitter.com/oXdwVTQDeG— vir sanghvi (@virsanghvi) June 21, 2023
#SylvesterdaCunha Om Shanti…!!
Iconic Ad man & creator of “Utterly Butterly Amul Girl” Passes away
Every Ad Agency must take a cue from this great man’s work…who has Scripted, & created a Space for thoughts & left an indelible mark forever & Forever
May your journey be… pic.twitter.com/c25VhlqQY3
— GurukulDr.SukanyaSubbannaIyer (@sukanyaiyer2) June 22, 2023
Amul, a dairy co-operative based in the western state of Gujarat, is one of the largest milk producers in the world.
Here are some popular Amul ads, featuring the Amul Girl:
