Someone asked me, "what do you think of the new Tanishq add, on remarriage. DO you think its pioneering, ground-breaking and awesome for our society...." Well something of this note. Well I thought. Good question. So few days back. I watched it, liked its direction and it was nice. That's it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqggcpL79qw
Taking a remarriage idea, breaking the barriers of remarrying is a nice thing to make adds on. But in no way do I see it to be pioneer in Indian advertisement. Sorry about that, in the Indian mentality obsessed with fair skin brides, a little less white, but nevertheless -slim trim beautiful bride as protege/protagonist, this advt. never felt, to be a beat off than the image of perfect girl to marry. So its no message on that front, fairness creams won't suffer a bit because of this, I am sure, nor would it boost the confidence of off-white skin coloured girls overnight. Mind you there are so many pretty, absolutely pretty girls rather, of all colors in India. Amazingly beautiful, yet the marriage business is still stuck on this mark. "Need a fair, slim, beautiful bride for so and so....." Which is something to marvel at.
The advertisement itself is great, maybe they are the harbingers or something, as said. If so, I wish they could do something about caste based marriages and honor issue so intertwined with love marriages as well. Something significant, which will permeate the length and breadth of the country and make it a sane place to live in. And choose who you are gonna live your life with, becomes a norm, an accepted reality and logical thing to do to people. And while we are at this - why not advertisements with messages to "treat women folk equally or maybe humanly. To not promote, think and measure them on the criteria of 'something to improve the aesthetics of the place' and that's it. "No Brain, logic entities ..blah blah..", fill in your perceptions here. Please just somehow address it, or "to stop people judging them with whom they marry and assumed career goals 5 or 10 years down the line "rearing kids". Help people having "self-promoted and propagated ideas about the IQ level of them", when conveniently they "ignore the hundred girls, who consistently were better at maths, algebra, geometry and IQ and GK or anything else all around them, all their life". Sweeping it away saying, "they are maggu, they just remember it by heart, they don't know it- you see- Low IQ and stuff"!! Please advertisement on that, I would make sure to share it with every person I know on earth.
You can also try to miraculously make Indians swell with pride overnight and march in the glory of awesome clean, green life. Help the litter habits, as its totally uncool and disgusting to say the least. Oh wait- there was such add, some 10 years back or earlier. I still sing few lines of it, every now and then "What will you do, if someone, makes Bhelpuri - of you...will you. <do smthg> or will do < this thing>... " Remember the music, pretty splendid it is. Have been trying to search it on youtube, no success yet. But you got the idea, right. But see 10 years and no one remembers it or no one seems to have improved because of that add, maybe I will start asking around - just in case, it opened someone's eyes. I do hope though, if it works, instead of NGO's, I'll work for advertisement industry (awesome payments there, would be a plus-won't it).
I have no doubt on power of media, ofcourse, specifically advertising business. For ofcourse they are the heftiest paycheck people. Also people promoting all kinds of fads and defining what is the trend, right, wrong, cool, not-cool, look for, shun, poke into, march in, say and dialogues to use - for the masses- rich, not rich, leader, down-trodden - wherever whenever. Don't you remember - "hum centre fresh kyon khate hain"-Dubara mat poochna, add" I have been controlling my wish to ask it, really really ask it, ever since (Still don't eat it so much). Or "kyonki badti umra ko chahiye, kuch extra"!! (ofcourse they need, its called -nutrituous diet ). Seriously ? But yes, sometimes, it works!! You know any home - where horlicks/bornvita etc is not given on a regular basis? Though I doubt how helpful it is, but never mind.
All this khichdi - ultimately is about selling something. Now out of the glossy, glamour soap advertisements and sporty and down-trodden automobile and health-drinks advertisement. Where will the jewellery sell? Ofcourse marriages, noone wears gold jewellery anywhere else these days. Funky trendy stuff is in demand (I know, its awesome-try some beads too). So what in marriages. Its so loaden out there. This is something which captures the audience. 9 out of 10 for that. But impact on society and doing something so revolutionary. Well I am not so sure. Lets not take all the credits from all the NGO's, and say see-" the solution was four minutes of advertisements". Wait and analyse before you start giving this idea, to people around. If its, an iota, as effective, as made out to be, lets start solving all our problems by these advertisements. I would love to see our society improving by these amazing ways.
