As the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), owner of the beloved Amul brand, marks its golden jubilee, we honour the enduring symbol of the brand throughout the years — the Amul Girl mascot!

Since her inception in 1966, this cheerful blue-haired little moppet in a red polka-dotted dress has wowed the nation with her sometimes tongue-in-cheek, occasionally controversial, and always enjoyable one-liners in billboard and print ads.

And what’s astounding is that she continues to win hearts with her tongue-in-cheek humour and clever wordplay.

While the brand Amul was registered and started its work in 1957, the advertising campaign started only in 1966.

Mumbai’s DaCunha ad agency was given the responsibility of the brand’s ad campaign by Dr Verghese Kurien — head of Amul and the father of India’s White Revolution, the world’s biggest dairy development programme.

Back then, advertising on television and print media was wildly expensive. So Sylvester DaCunha, the founder-chairman of DaCunha Communications, decided to design an Amul ad campaign for the more affordable outdoor hoardings.

The Amul Girl was created by Eustace Fernandes, the art director of DaCunha Communications in 1966.

That same year, the simple yet catchy phrase “Utterly Butterly” was coined by Sylvester’s wife, Nisha DaCunha.

Initially, the word ‘butterly’ met with a lot of scepticism, because it was grammatically incorrect. However, it worked superbly for the brand and soon became one of the most memorable taglines in Indian advertising.

In 1966, DaCunha and Fernandes designed the mascot’s first public appearance on billboards.

Many would recall the first hoarding put up by the brand — the cute image of Amul Girl kneeling in prayer, with one eye closed and another on a pack of butter.

The hoarding read, “Give us this day our daily bread with Amul Butter”, and got an immediate positive response from the public.

In 1966, the first topical ad titled “Thoroughbread” was released, which showed the Amul Girl as a jockey holding a slice of bread during the horse race season.

Next came the monsoon ad, “Pitter-patter, pick-a, pack-a Amul butter”, and an ad about the Kolkata hartals of 1960s with the slogan “Bread without Amul — cholbe na, cholbe na”. This was a clever play on the slogans of the processions, “Cholbe na!” (or “Will not do!”), the ad drew a smile from Bengalis across the country.

While Amul’s topical ads were very popular, they also posed a challenge — they needed to be released quickly or else, they would lose much of their impact.

Realising that the protocol and logistics of approving and releasing an ad took a lot of time, Verghese Kurien gave DaCunha Communications the freedom to run the campaign without waiting to get permission from the company.

DaCunha passed away on 22 June, 2023, but the legacy of the Amul Girl continues.

Half a century later, the Utterly Butterly Girl continues to peer down billboards, having had her say on everything happening in India for decades.