Feb 13, 2010

The Ad-Mire.

Tomorrow's the dreaded pink colored, heart layered, teddy bear laden day. I will not speak the name.
I assume you are familiar with my theory regarding festivals. I have long maintained it as a ploy to dispossess simple beings such as yourself from precious money. In fact, I'm pretty sure the only selfless festival is Muharram.
What makes The-day-whose-name-shall-not be-taken worse are the lurid advertisements. They are everywhere! Festering like some dirty mold in a damp corner, they infest the space with its cheerful gaiety. And why must it be so pink?! And why the hearts?! Ugh!

Advertisements remind me of the approaching IPL season. As always it'll be this mega-debauchery extravaganza. So while the number crunchers are trying to deduce whether India is more impoverished than the entire continent of Africa, a single match of IPL's prize money has the capacity of funding Haiti for the next 3 years.
Anyhow, the much anticipated season will bring on the onslaught of a slew of advertisements and branding ventures of every conceivable kind.
The star of the previous IPL were the Zoozoos. The partly cute, partly irritating and entirely alien things caught the fancy of millions and are apparently here to stay. While some of you may tend to think of them as whiny little twits, it matters not, for the revenue generated by these bald, genital-less creatures can again fund Haiti for another 3 years. The Vodafone Zoozoo is an exceptional Campaign in every sense. It has a favorably low budget, it has been marketed ferociously and morphed onto every object possible and it has become a brand in itself, almost superseding it's parent company. We will have to wait and see what this years' IPL brings.
The IPL is obviously big ticket for all companies and brands. It is the Indian equivalent of the American Superbowl. A manna for Advertisers who'll be looking to pull a ZooZoo this year.

Moving on, this is the worst Advertisement ever to grace Indian television. I can understand when some advertisements are dull or bland like all those masala/toothpaste ads, because they simply stick to an ancient script  and deliver their lines. It's acceptable because they don't propound a concept. They just do their bread and butter and get out of there.
But Nirmaa Washing Powder. I simply don't understand how this concept was passed through the ideation stage. The entire attempt is so horrible that one can't even laugh at it. Eww.

Ok, this has been an uncharacteristically serious post.
Ciao

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm an advertising enthusiast, and I agree with you on this!

Such! said...

Oh Good, Umair, you are probably the only faith follower I have here.
The others have all but disappeared!