Pappu (पप्पु) is a male

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a f ...

in some regions of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The name ''pappu'' is taken from the English word papa (पापा) which is a

nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

for a small boy in India. Pappu has been used frequently in popular culture (e.g.,

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinem ...

's chartbuster " Pappu Can't Dance",

Election Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

's "Pappu can't vote" campaign and

Cadbury Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company owned by Mondelez International (spun off from Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second-largest confectionery brand in the world, after Mars. ...

's "Pappu Pass Ho Gaya" ad campaign). It has also been used in film titles such as '' Aur Pappu Paas Ho Gaya'' (2007), '' Pappu Can't Dance Saala'' (2011).

Origins

According to ''

The Economic Times ''The Economic Times'' is an Indian English-language business-focused daily newspaper. Owned by The Times Group, ''The Economic Times'' began publication in 1961 and it is sold in all major cities in India. As of 2012, it is the world's secon ...

'', using the name ''Pappu'' in ad campaigns connects with consumers. They also described Pappu as the "darling salesman" for marketers. The first use of ''Pappu'' in advertisement campaign was done by

chocolates in 2006. Abhijit Avasthi of the advertising agency

Ogilvy & Mather Ogilvy is a New York City-based British advertising, marketing, and public relations agency. It was founded in 1850 by Edmund Mather as a London-based agency. In 1964, the firm became known as Ogilvy & Mather after merging with a New York City a ...

is credited for the introducing ''Pappu'' into the advertisement world for Cadbury. Cadbury popularized ''Pappu'' through its ad campaign pappu is ballu "''Pappu Pass Ho Gaya''" ("Pappu Has Passed Exam"), which showed a bald, middle-aged man as Pappu, who passed his school exam after many attempts. The entire town celebrated Pappu's success by distributing Cadbury chocolates. In 2007, following the Cadbury ad campaign, the Bollywood film '' Aur Pappu Paas Ho Gaya'' was released which played off the ad campaign slogan, but presented its lead character Pappu as a dimwitted young man. The 2008 film '' Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na'' featured the song " Pappu Can't Dance", again presenting the same idea of Pappu as a dimwitted man, which was one of the top songs in India that year. As a result of these uses, the term "pappu" became more associated with a dim but loveable character.

Latter uses

The name was used in an ad campaign for

Maruti Suzuki Maruti Suzuki India Limited is a publicly listed Indian subsidiary of Japanese automaker Suzuki Motor Corporation. It is the largest automobile manufacturer in India, specialising in small cars. The company was established by the Government ...

which says "''Maruti Genuine Parts lagaoge to pappu nahi kahelaoge''" ("If you use Maruti Genuine Parts, then you won't be called Pappu"). Pappu has been featured in a traffic awareness campaign for

Kerala Police The Kerala Police is the law enforcement agency for the Indian state of Kerala. Kerala Police has its headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital. The motto of the force is "Mridhu Bhave Dhrida Kruthye" which means "Soft in Temperament, ...

. They created "Pappu the Zebra" as their road safety awareness mascot. Some schools in

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

also set up "Pappu zones" in school where students made aware about various road safety rules.

Notable people named Pappu

Kuthiravattam Pappu Padmadalakshan, better known by his stage name Kuthiravattam Pappu (24 December 1936 – 25 February 2000), was a popular Indian stage and film actor. His repertoire of acting was based on his unique style and use of the '' Kozhikodan'' dialect, ...

(1936-2000), Indian comedian in Malayalam-language films * Pappu Venugopala Rao (b. 1948), Indian educationist and musicologist from Andhra Pradesh . However, Pappu is a surname in Andhra Pradesh region and is not derogatory. * Pappu Kalani (b. 1951), Indian criminal-turned-politician from Maharashtra * Pappu Yadav (b. 1967), Indian politician from Bihar * Pappu Sain, Pakistani

dhol Dhol () can refer to any one of a number of similar types of double-headed drum widely used, with regional variations, throughout the Indian subcontinent. Its range of distribution in Indian subcontinent primarily includes northern areas such ...

musician * Papu Pom Pom (b. 1977), popular comedian in Odia films

References

{{Reflist Given names