Commercials have come some distance in the last few decades. In
the seventies, the defining moment of Indian commercials were provided by
Lalitaji, a no nonsense homemaker who almost talked down to the target audience
about the virtues of a popular brand of detergent. Celebrities like Kapil Dev,
had only to be their untutored selves, sporting a clean shaven, shiny cheek,
made possible by a popular brand of shaving cream. Kapil da jawab nahin! Many
of them survive in popular consciousness even today, made by admen who earned
their chops through these. Being witty was never the forte of Indian advertising,
though some confectionery and adhesive companies are bucking this trend (the
Ramesh-Vivek duo from 5 star always has me in splits) Despite that, many
examples like the Lalitaji, Gold Spot etc efforts were memorable, before the
cola majors unleashed their ballistic budgets and glitz replaced substance.
In recent times however, a certain righteous discourse has trickled into the ad scene and when seen in the context of the product it promotes, things appear downright ridiculous. Lets take the Idea ad as a test case. The target audience here is a broad one, retail users of the internet which is accessed by smartphones to consume data, most of which is burnt on social networks and instant messengers. Not too much evidence out these which suggests that users are spending hours on Wikipedia and About.com. Yet this commercial turns the usage pattern on its head. The punk next door, the jaded mom, even the sex worker are not spared, all of them united in their celebration of the IIN or the Idea Internet network, for the uninitiated. The IIN has singlehandedly demolished social barriers, torpedoed through taboos and even made merit based selection meaningless. Such miracles have been achieved by making education accessible to all via its data connection, or so the ad claims. As noted previously, the assumption is the average Salman wannabe on the street burns his megabytes trawling through Wikipedia or perhaps even racks up virtual degrees on Coursera. One wonders if he also multitasks by sharing videos via Whatsapp between analyzing Pythagoras and memorizing Wordsworth.
In recent times however, a certain righteous discourse has trickled into the ad scene and when seen in the context of the product it promotes, things appear downright ridiculous. Lets take the Idea ad as a test case. The target audience here is a broad one, retail users of the internet which is accessed by smartphones to consume data, most of which is burnt on social networks and instant messengers. Not too much evidence out these which suggests that users are spending hours on Wikipedia and About.com. Yet this commercial turns the usage pattern on its head. The punk next door, the jaded mom, even the sex worker are not spared, all of them united in their celebration of the IIN or the Idea Internet network, for the uninitiated. The IIN has singlehandedly demolished social barriers, torpedoed through taboos and even made merit based selection meaningless. Such miracles have been achieved by making education accessible to all via its data connection, or so the ad claims. As noted previously, the assumption is the average Salman wannabe on the street burns his megabytes trawling through Wikipedia or perhaps even racks up virtual degrees on Coursera. One wonders if he also multitasks by sharing videos via Whatsapp between analyzing Pythagoras and memorizing Wordsworth.
I have found ads which set creativity benchmarks without perhaps
doing anything substantial for the company topline. The iconic Amul girl by Da
Cunha has been tickling our imagination for decades, if not making you clog
your arteries with more of the spread. These make for pleasant television
viewing. The IIN school of advertising however, leaves you counting the grey
cells remaining after the last ad break
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