Guttural manly voice :
Swapna sundari wearing maxi
Getting out of a yellow taxi
Walks into a club
Paagal ho gaye sab
Surprisingly.. she chooses me.
Squeaky high pitched female voice
Is that a pen in your pocket mister? Or are you .. just happy to see me ??... Lexi pens, now, in every paacket in your city
This ad for Lexi pens (listen to it here) plays day in and day out on the radio and I am not sure what to make of it. I mean it's silly enough to pass off as humour and yet.. in a country where colleges are banning jeans because :
a) it ensures discipline
b) low waist jeans and short tops represent a threat to collective morality
It shouldn't be long, before 'pens in pockets' get the axe ...
And what about toothpaste? Colgate Maxfresh gel with cooling crystals has a radio ad which goes something like this :
Woman interviewer : I see you are an MBA.. that means Married but Available
Flustered man: Um.. but..
Woman interviewer: I want you to work under me... So would you like to be paid in kind.. or kind?
And there's another version of that where a girl goes to buy a movie ticket and the guy at the counter says he has two.. but only if she agrees to sit next to him.
Not sure whether this will help the product.. considering that this is not Italy where even waiters look like they just stepped out of a movie set. But hey, toothpaste is becoming a risque item - parents, guardians and principals please note. Who knows what impressionable young minds are thinking as they brush each morning...
And of course mints.. they need to be banned too.Now that Polo is running its 'sabse bada hint' campaign. Kya pataa kaun kise kya hint de raha ho...
Bottomline : Sex can and is used to sell anything and everything... On the other side, the powers that be are trying hard to hard to sell 'decency' as a virtue. Confusion nahin hoga to kya hoga?
Ab Lexi pens ko hi dekh lo.The TV commercial is the 'wholesome' type. Mummy in a sari, cute kid, chacha. The radio ad on the other hand is about swapna sundari and not so subtle double entendre. It's all about tailoring the message for the audience.
The parallel with real life couldn't be more apt. All that parents and principals can demand is 'appear wholesome' in front of us. Peeth peechey kya ho raha hai.. woh to khuda hi jaane. Which seedha saada kid metamorphoses into 'studboy18' or 'ilikeithot21' while chatting late into the night - kya pataa?
The age of 'multiple personality on order' is upon us. As the Fastrack guys put it: 'How many you have?'
Omigod that was one of those ads... wonder if colleges would like to consider banning watches on campus as well?
I wouldn't mind having that Fastrack ad though... especially the part with that cutie with the masticated pen. Just kidding!
ReplyDeleteMarketing is all about making a product stand out - remember Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin?
Advertisers will go to any extent to get the word about their product across and as of this moment, the billions of people who read your post read about the Colgate toothpaste, making it the most talked about toothpaste on your blog!
However, I wonder if any of the advertisers ever bother about the negative publicity when the media writes negatively about the advertisements.
Advertising just banks on what gets attention.. If there weren't such heavy double standards then there really wouldn't be a need to titillate!!
ReplyDeleteAnother to add to the list of products mentioned in the article is the Quality Walls ice cream ad.
ReplyDeleteDid they started shooting for a condom ad and then decided to convert it to ice cream ad???
Why do you need sex to sell ice-creams???
Rajni
(http://rajnis.blogspot.com)
The "banning" thing in educational institution should be stopped(banned?) immediately..!
ReplyDeleteif the government has some sense, it can ban "political parties" in universities and schools. Not what they should wear and how they should wear. Or better follow the uniform dress code as in schools. Soon, we can have uniforms in all private companies rank-wise.. Arghhhh... where are we heading..??
Regards,
Satheesh
http://educatethechildren.blogspot.com
einstein.satheesh@gmail.com
Oh, I hadn't heard this ad. It is the silliest thing I've ever heard. The words sound as if they're desperately trying to rhyme and it's not their fault that the 'poet' put it that way.
ReplyDeleteThe list of crazy (and nonsensical) ads goes on and on... I will not even try to name them...