Six-Pack Ads!

Ad watching has always been one of the interesting pastimes for many people, including me- back from the doordarshan days when at times people used to wait for some ads. That doesn't say so much about the quality of ads as it says about the quality of programmes on the aptly named bore-darshan.

Times have now changed. There are far too many channels without anything being really watchable. They also lead to a much shorter attention span and memory. But to compensate for that, we are now having ads that are creative, subtle, funny, risqué and attention grabbing. Let’s have a look at some of my favourites!

• Idea - This is an unusual ad. It shows a caste war-already a taboo subject for media. It is based in Bihar- another breaking of the mould. (A Bihari like me can easily pick this thing up. The parodied castes are found only there!) It starts violently and unpleasantly. Just when you are about to cringe, enters Abhishek Bachchan, sporting a haryanvi/jat accent, acting as the sarpanch. He provides an idea to sort it out, which is so outlandish, so funny and surprisingly, so effective that all the turmoil stops and the villagers live happily and peacefully thereafter.
  The USP of this ad is undoubtedly Abhishek Bachchan. He certainly has managed to create a niche for himself as an actor. May be it was due to Guru that the ad makers decided to caste him as the sarpanch. He delivers- and in a different way than his father.
  But why would Idea come up with an ad that might not click with the metropolitan audience? An easy guess is they are trying to break into the cow belt/northern region, targeting primarily tier-II and downwards cities and rural areas. It may still work with a section of city bred crowd looking for something exotic and different, or may be having some roots in their native villages!
• Greenply – An undisputed winner! Good photography showing different eras, over the top acting, parodying of the filmy courtroom scenes (a shivering undertrial and a fiery prosecutor) and equally hackneyed dialogues (“…Jeevandas ko kadi se kadi sazaa di jaaye” and “…Kathghare mein inhe nahi bail ko khara hona chahiye”!). And the product line is the punch line- a good feat indeed!
• Permanent Marker – An old lady picks up the phone. The other voice asks her to come for a show or some ‘timepass’. She disgustedly hangs up, showing her irritation at continuing to receive such calls.
  The camera than cuts to a public toilet where her no is written for those wanting to have a good time. The marker’s name appears. And you are left chuckling! Although this ad has a weakness. The brand name doesn’t get reinforced enough. I myself remembered the ad vividly but forgot the brand name! And rightly so, as it turned out that this ad itself was copied from a Cannes award winning ad! (http://youtube.com/watch?v=C25ZORYxWUg)
• Tata Tea – Jago India Jago! This ad has a catchy slogan and a clever idea- using the metaphor of awakening to promote the tea brand. The ad is good primarily because of the actor who plays the politician. Notice his hand movement, that of snatching, when he says he has come to ‘ask’ for votes. For a 15 second role he gets everything almost spot on - the arrogant demeanour unsuccessfully masquerading as humility, the actual foolishness and lack of any worthwhile knowledge of either problems or solutions. Only one piece of advice- do not try this to a real neta else you can imagine what his goons will do to you!
• I-pill – Now this ad shows that India has grown up. Beautifully shot, tastefully done. Gets its point across and how! It doesn’t use a single word from the actors. Their expressions and body language conveys the awkwardness, worry and uncertainty- in a way only the adults will be able to pick up. As someone said, this ad is beautifully conceived and delivered!

Monkey Menace

I seriously suspect that during the upcoming tour of India by Pakistan, Mohammad Yousuf, with his excellent skills with a cricket bat, penchant for scoring runs and, not to forget, a flowing beard with a shaven moustache, is going to be targeted by the crowds at some part of India or the other.

We Indians are hugely racists, if the definition of racism is taken from western books. The only difference is that in India, a dark complexioned person can invite occasional taunts from their own parents and siblings. This makes it difficult for us to believe about the existence of the problem itself.

The problem is that we are still very raw and unsophisticated while dealing with many things and especially when it comes to public behaviour. At a traditional level, Indian might be more tolerant than others but the modern Indian society still has not come in terms with the true definitions of plurality. Our ineffectual education system, ostrich like attitude and hypocrisy does not help.

Having said all that, I also believe the taunts to Symonds were primarily taunts only and it was merely a case of even more taunting when the aggressors realise that their victim is getting affected. One can come across such juvenile behaviour in high school and college classroom where students keep finding ways of mocking their teachers by making monkey noises and mimicking a dog’s barking and cat’s mewing. Symonds had openly tried to take on the entire country and people, in addition to the players, when he said that the Indian reactions to the twenty20 win were 'vulgar'. Most people noticed a streak of bullying in his comments and behaviour on and off the field. That also explains why he was roundly booed as well, with or without monkey chants. Of course, this does not exonerate those involved. But it merely explains exactly how a particular character managed to bring out the inherent boorish behaviour of the Indian masses, and may be the so-called classes.