Saturday, December 26, 2009

AD me in

I am at home..no plans for holidays yet and as I said, I am with a post before Jan 1st and I know this wont be the final post before 1st. Hehehehe.

I am BORED!! yeah bored with all capitals. And I did watch TV for few hours for the past 3 days. But its all crap they air. But one thing caught my attention. The advertisements!!!

Yeah the unnecessary evil, the fodder...Advertisements have come of age...From the so middle class "Hamara Bajaj" and relevant "Savithri ji" types to the uber sexy Axe deodorants and the refreshing Zoo Zoo ads.

I have a write up on 80s jingles which were so beautiful, visit this post - 80s Jingles Revisited

Whats the stark difference that you find in today's advertisements? Lots of bluffs, false claims, no substance. Advertisements are serious business now; grand sets, exotic locations, film stars to sell a soap?? Who could forget the Vicco Turmeric or the Zandu Balm advertisements?

Advertisements do nfluence our lives, a kindergarten kid can demand the brand of toiletries or the brand of pencils; all thanks to the media invasion. But whats behind all this hype and glamor? Do we tend to realize that what's behind those perfectly dressed slim models donning the role of a working women and home maker with flawless fair skin? Has this got anything to do with the reality? Not a hint of dark circles, perfectly lined lips 24x7..........and what not....There's an advertisement on face cream where the lady says "I cant manage so many things..." and just when you think its about dual role of the women, there comes a shocker ".....dry skin, blemishes...." What the heck!!!!

Isn't that the human failure to realize that its all a far away fantasy? These advertisements are created by geniuses who try hard to sell a product and this weakness of us is capitalized? Just analyze the ad content - sleazy, unrealistic, ambitious, false, offensive and racist.

Another one shows a dark and dry skinned female who gets rejected after a photo shoot. And later on applying a fairness cream, she is shown making her father proud....Does it mean only fair women succeed? Where's the ethics gone? Another ad shows a fair women finding a groom after initial trouble finding any. Where's the morality? And to top it all our darling movie stars promote such products.
Aren't these products selling false claims that being fair increases your self confidence and thus violating the principles of equality and promoting discrimination on color and gender?

Few ads are so misleading. Even though they are humorous they are misleading. A recent ad shows a girl slipping due to the so smooth skin of hers after a shave. Get that? Its unique, creative but is that real? An ad shows a hot looking female falling for an awkward looking guy because of his perfume. Now does it not mislead?

A product must be advertised such that it should propagate an idea that the using it would help you in a certain way, definitely not in a manner that it would make your life better or you could succeed big time! There are few advertisements that are so cute and relevant and are creative; yet realistic. Such ones must be appreciated.

But to sell products in this competitive world, ad makers just want to promote and that's at any stake.

32 comments:

  1. oh man, I totally agree with you here...ads are a big joke these days...fairness cream for men, mountain dew ads, have a happy period, daag ache hai and what not.. pathetic ads are doing rounds these days..

    nice post :))

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  2. Yes,the Ads have changed.Marketing skills have changed.
    It is not that earlier ads were good or bad, they were different.As you said about Hamara Bajaj.
    I find some current ads meaningless and slightly cheap,some are good too, especially the ones with AB.
    However,if you are interested in Advertising...The Ad club,Bombay is good. I am a member myself.

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  3. There was a time when I loved watching TV just for the ads. Now its simply a pain. There's one idiotic ad that comes these days - where a lady in spotless white saree threatens a mud puddle with her 'washing powder Nirma' jingle. Yieeekks! It truly gets on my nerves. Ads are totally insane .. !!! :-/

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  4. One thing caught my attention and would like to add my comment on it...
    Its about ..."Does it mean only fair women succeed? "..
    I never felt like this, unless am one targeted for it since an yr...Trust me, In India its the "FAIR" skin which counts, matters....rest all is just talks!!!

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  5. Whoaaa!! You've struck the right chord.
    There's one particular beauty soap ad whose theme hasn't changed in years. "Which college?" ask a few boys/girls to a young and pretty girl. But before she could respond, a kid comes shouting, "Mummmyyyy." People around her stand there with their mouths wide open. "Mummy?"
    Now my wild and crazy brain could only think about one thing: Do girls get pregnant during college days if they use that soap? So any girl who prefers to get pregnant during her college days should use this soap. Good good. :P
    Jokes apart, I agree with you - totally. :-)

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  6. Nice post Insignia. Advertisements have changeed so much that you want to fast forward them.

    One of the best advertisements of all time is for the Maytag Refrigerator. The Maytag Refrigerator repair man comes to work every day and wait near the phone for any customer to call for repair. He never gets a call and bored in his workplace. This ad was going on for the last 35 years. Last year they made a slight change. He retired without getting a single call for 35 years. They employed another young guy in his place. Now he waits near the phone.

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  7. Hi Neha,

    They are so absurd these days. Competition!!

    I cant stand the fairness cream ads.

    Thanks for the comments :-)

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  8. Hi Chowla sir,

    Yes. Ads were relevant those days, not anymore. True, there are few ads which are creative as well meaningful.

    I have no idea about Ad Club. I will research about it. Thank you :-)

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  9. Hi lostowrld,

    Me too!! I used to sit 1/2 hr before the movie on DD only to watch Ads. Most are insane as you say.

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  10. Hi Shrutzz,

    Welcome to B Log. :-)

    I can relate to you about fair skin. Thats what the ads propagate. Fairer skin landing a plum job, going abroad and all that absurdity.

    And its sad that all said and done, people prefer fair skin, be it for marriage or for a receptionist or anything. But there are so many woman out there who are not fair but more beautiful and lovely. Its all in the mind set; difficult to change

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  11. Karthik,

    Have laughed at that ad...Hmm..but sad that our genius ad makers cant think beyond that.

    Thanks for your comments.

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  12. Hi SG,

    Thank you. Wow, thats a nice ad. It conveys so much but so simple. I like the Zoo zoo ads of late.

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  13. I remember having a long discussion about this long back.

    and 80's jingles revisited! nostalgia. sob sob.. :-( :-)

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  14. Advertisements are sometimes so irrelevant with the product. But these days only a few I will say are preparing educative ads. Its good, society is changing.
    Nice post!
    Best wishes.

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  15. Gautam,

    Yeah you remember!! The same :-)
    And the discussion or rather singing of 80s jingles....I miss those days.. When are you back to chat?

    More such topics waiting :-)

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  16. Hi Chandrika,

    Welcome to B Log. I absolutely agree with you. Most ads are irrelevant though few are really good ones. Thanks for the comments.

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  17. But I am liking ads these days as well.. Fevicol and Amul ads are superbly refreshing.. Longer ads showing kids/grandparents etc are lovable.. aren't they? Bingo ads are idiotic but fun..

    Ads for cosmetics were always over the top!

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  18. And what's more there are only a few where you recollect the product advertised. Another reason that we recall 80s ads are because, we saw less TV then and did not swap channels so much. Now as soon as you see an ad, you swap.

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  19. I cringe whenever I see SRK promoting Mens fairness cream -fair and handsome. Don't we like him for what he is? Ah..there's no point...like you said most/all fairness creams ads are racist and offensive. But I like that hair removing cream ad...creative...but the question is how long will i remember it?
    Nice post :)

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  20. I totally agree with you..advertisement means telling us the quality of the product, but sometimes you hardly can figure out what they are trying to sell and then those false claims..s omuch so that i hardly buy anything due to advts.

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  21. Reality Check on a Virtual World.


    Not Fair!

    Keep Smiling.

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  22. I wonder if you have read 'No Logo' ! Its simple book !

    And yes, i agree with what some critics say. If i talk to you the way ads talk to you...well, i wouldnt be held in any regard !

    :)

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  23. Few years ads were my staple diet...i would switch on the Tv jst 2 watch these ads...now-a-days the ads are so stale that i simply change the channel during the ad breaks...ads such as amul underwears and fairness cream ads just make me go maaaaaaaaad.

    except for Vodafone, IDBI, bingo and the fevicol ads, i find none of them interesting

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  24. Hi Abhi,

    Welcome back. :-)

    There are few ads which are cute, adorable and also makes sense..like the HDFC ones.

    Few ones which are perfect for the product..like the Hamam soap.

    The Amul ads, Zoo Zoos are all superb

    But most of them are nonsense...Denver..seen it? Its so sleazy!! Is that perfume or deo? I dont recall.And poor men like you would start assuming that wearing Denver would attract a female in skimpy cloth and offer herself and her motorcycle :-P

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  25. Holy Lama,

    Exactly!! Thats what I am trying to say :-|
    The ads are so irrelevant that you cant recall what was the product!!

    Hehehehe..we swap because of overdose of ads. During 80s and 90s, there were no such overdose..

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  26. Destiny's child,

    You hit the nail. How long will we remember it? I still recall most of 80s ad, they had substance. But now!!

    And yeah SRK!!...no comments!!

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  27. Hi Antarman,

    thank you. I agree with what you say. You dont really know which product works the way they claim!! Its all so fake.

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  28. Hi Makk,

    Whats not fair? The reality check? Or the advertisements? :-)

    Always smiling...see :-)

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  29. Hi Kavi,

    Hahahaha..critics say things right!! dont they?
    I haven't read the book, now will pick it up for sure.

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  30. Hi Gayathri,

    Same same here!! I used to watch TV just for ads. They were so pleasing. But now...awww I feel awkward thinking if I am the only one feeling like this or are there others too..:-)

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  31. Reality check obviously dear.

    :)

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  32. Hmm....but we got to wake ourselves up once in a while isn't it?

    :-)

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I'd love to know what you thought :-) Please shoot!