Sylvester da Cunha

Sylvester da Cunha (19 October 1930 – 21 June 2023) was an Indian advertising professional and theatre personality. He was most famously known for creating the Utterly Butterly advertising campaign and the Amul girl mascot for the Indian dairy cooperative Amul. He also served as a consultant to multinational agencies including the World Bank, UNICEF, and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development on various projects linked to food and nutrition.

Early life Sylvester da Cunha was born on 19 October 1930 into a Bombay Goan family of Portuguese descent. His family was originally from Bardes concelho in Novas Conquistas and later moved to the Mazagaon neighbourhood of Bombay (now Mumbai) where he grew up. His brother Gerson da Cunha was also an advertising professional. His uncle José Gerson da Cunha, physician and historian, had written one of the first historical works documenting the origins of Bombay, somewhat aptly titled, The Origins of Bombay. Da Cunha Sr. was also the family physician of the Aga Khan. Da Cunha lost his father, in 1941, when he was 11.

Da Cunha completed his Bachelor of Arts (honours) in economics from Bombay University and later studied mass communication at Princeton University as a Parvin fellow between 1964 and 1965.

Career 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 Birla group's Advertising and Sales Promotions (ASP) agency. At ASP, da Cunha initially handled some of the Birla group's inhouse brands like Hindustan Motors and Century Rayon, before handling accounts including Life Insurance Corporation, Glaxo and Lakmé. Da Cunha teamed up with illustrator and art director Eustace Fernandes to create the ads.

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 the time of da Cunha's death. The campaign and the mascot was noted to have been in response to the incumbent market leader Polson butter, 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.

Da Cunha later went on to found his own advertising company Da Cunha Associates in 1969, after spending 14 years at ASP. Da Cunha handed over creation of Amul's topical advertisements to his son Rahul in 1993. The campaign holds the Guinness World Record for the longest running advertising campaign.

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 I love Mumbai, It is not funny!, and Topsy-Turvy. He also directed and acted in an adaptation of Vijay Tendulkar's Kamala.

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 World Bank, traveling within India, and to various countries including Brazil, Turkey and Zambia. He also served as a consultant to the UNICEF and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development on food and nutrition projects. The couple had a son, Rahul da Cunha, also an advertising professional; Sylvester's brother, Gerson da Cunha, was also an advertising professional.

Da Cunha died in Mumbai on 21 June 2023, at the age of 92.