Amul’s 'Utterly Butterly' girl creator Sylvester daCunha no more

He is survived by wife Nisha da Cunha and son Rahul da Cunha.

Advertising industry genius and master-creator Sylvester da Cunha - who conceived the iconic Amul’s 'Utterly Butterly' girl - is no more.

da Cunha conceived the Amul ‘Utterly Butterly’ Girl along with his art director Eustace Fernandes with inputs from Dr Verghese Kurien, the Milkman of India - and it happens to be the longest continuously running advertisement campaign in a single character.

The Amul Girl continues to win hearts - has opinions on everything under the Sun - with her tongue-in-cheek humour.

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In 1966, the Anand-based Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (GCMMF) decided to give their account to the advertising agency called Advertising and Sales Promotion (ASP)

Dr Kurien, the then Chairman suggested a mischievous little girl as a mascot and da Cunha and Fernandes created history.

International civil servant-turned-politician and writer Dr Shashi Tharoor and his family too have a connection with Amul Girls - his sisters Shobha and Smitha - were the first to be featured as Amul babies.

de Cunha is survived by wife Nisha da Cunha and son Rahul da Cunha.

GCMMF Chairman Jayen Mehta announced the death of da Cunha on Twitter. "Very sorry to inform you about the sad demise of Sylvester daCunha, Chairman of da Cunha Communications in Mumbai A doyen of the Indian advertising industry who was associated with Amul since the 1960s. The Amul family joins in mourning this sad loss,” he said.

Pawan Singh, Pavan Singh, General Manager-Marketing at Amul India, paid his tributes to daCunha in a LinkedIn post.

"Very sad to learn that Sylvester daCunha, the legend of the Indian advertising world, is no longer amongst us. It was an honour to have learnt the art of brand communication and advertising, from him over nearly 3 decades….along with the legendary Dr Kurien, it was da Cunha who had initiated our immortal, iconic topical campaign in 1966, which is one of longest continuously running advertising campaigns in the world. This campaign scaled new heights, moved seamlessly from OOH to print, TV and then digital & social media, enhancing its reach and popularity across multiple generations,” Singh said.