- The view is not flattering
Show me the TV ads of a society and I will tell you everything about that society. I am sure some wise man somewhere must have said this. If not, then I have just said it. No other trade is subject to a quicker and more ruthless feedback; and because big money is at stake, admen cannot afford to muck around. The only ads that stay (and in turn inspire similar ones) are those that reflect to some extent the values and aspirations of the society, or their plugs would have been pulled long ago.
Coming to our ads, the first thing one notices is loudness, both literal and figurative. Those who watch TV channels where they run Polish ads in between movies would have noticed how quiet and understated theirs are in comparison. Even without understanding a word of the language it is obvious that they are not nearly as pushy as ours; in some cases, there is even a soothing quality to them. In contrast, there is nothing subtle about ours. Granted, advertising everywhere is (by definition) propaganda, but ours are amazingly free of any nuances. Not only are they noisy but the content itself is designed to bludgeon the audience over the head with a sledgehammer; fitting for a nation that has (for the most part) failed to evolve to any level of sophistication. This is also in keeping with the tone of the talk shows and childish ‘narratives’ that keep doing the rounds in the political arena and which are lapped up by the audience. Anything subtler would probably leave people scratching their heads. Our admen then, intelligent people that they are, can hardly be faulted for not coming up with more intelligent stuff.
It would not be unreasonable to think that for the admen it is mostly a case of ad-imitating-life. When it comes to the audience however, life-imitating-ad cannot be ruled out either, for few among the public live their own lives. Many are playing one fictitious character at one moment, followed by another the next.
There was a time when mamta was all the rage as far as the urban middle class – the principal target audience of admen – was concerned. You could sell everything from tractors to after-shaves to free weights if you could somehow connect them to mamta – a piece of cake for advertisers. This class has evolved and so have its aspirations, and mamta is not the force that it used to be. Now it is worship of youth that is the in-thing. The young granddaughter proving the doubting old grandmother wrong ‘Jo koi naheen kar sakta, wohi to champion karta hai’ (what no one else can do is exactly what a champion can do) type poppycock, with the mother looking on approvingly. This is followed immediately by the mother telling her mother (the poor grandmother again) that the latter’s scepticism regarding the washability of clothes is misplaced when they are equipped with X brand of detergent, because… you guessed it: ‘Jo koi naheen kar sakta wohi to champion karta hai’.
There is a common variant of taking the mickey out of the elderly. It consists of a man (more often than not the husband) absolutely clueless about some problem, only for a woman (usually the wife) to stress the efficacy of a certain product in solving the problem to everybody’s satisfaction (not least the manufacturer’s). This, again, is very much in keeping with our politically correct milieu imported from the West; and which probably also subconsciously seeks to reverse past excesses that were in the opposite direction.
Nowhere have middle-class values or aspirations changed more than its attitude towards work. When the prospective bridegroom’s mother dramatically says: ‘Hamaare haan larkiaan shaadi ke baad kaam naheen karteen’ (in our family girls don’t work after marriage), it sucks the very life blood out of all the hosts, considering the mostly anachronistic resistance in some families to women earning a living. After an uneasy pause, she adds this explanation causing untold relief all around: ‘Ghar ka kaam naheen karteen’ (housework, that is), as if tending to household chores were a crime now. The pendulum has swung to the other extreme. This sort of emancipation is supposed to be following in Western footsteps – a delicious irony because in the West most everybody contributes to household chores whether they work or not.
It would not be unreasonable to think that for the admen it is mostly a case of ad-imitating-life. When it comes to the audience however, life-imitating-ad cannot be ruled out either, for few among the public live their own lives. Many are playing one fictitious character at one moment, followed by another the next. So, trust many of the audience to start playing the ‘we-don’t-do-house-chores’ role or make themselves miserable if the circumstances are not conducive.
The practice of employing children to sell things is worldwide and is as old as advertising itself. Our priceless contribution is this: The seven-years-old actor is made to deliver the cheesy punch line like she is two and can barely speak coherently. This passes for cuteness in the Islamic Republic. Just what is so charming about somebody being at a much earlier stage of development for his or her years is anybody’s guess. This is just another instance of presenting dumbed down content to the public, which appears to love being talked down to. The resulting cringe worthiness aside, this mirrors the new urban middle/upper-middle class fad of encouraging children to remain immature for their years. Some of them become so good at it that they behave like adolescents in their thirties and later.
The fault is neither in our stars, nor in our advertisers. Our ads are mirrors to our society; and what is on view is not pretty.
