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If you don’t read the text, the ad will feel like one of an escort agency. Maybe they have figured it out, that playing on sexual angle is more profitable for the facebook age group.

Another thing to be noted here is that they are using dating as a way to marriage. The copy says “meet local singles” which is more congruent to dating. Picture via Lalit.

The ‘Jaagore‘ campaign started just before the parliamentary elections. They started with the ‘cast your vote’ idea, aiming people who did not care enough to vote. As an idea it was good, as ‘voting’ was the new politically hip and correct thing to do. With these ideas they also brought the product along, the tata tea. Seemingly as the tea refreshes everyone out of their morning sleepiness, this campaign would go on to wake up every adult to his moral duty.
The trick with these kind of campaigns is that you don’t want to be too eager to push your product. It should seem that you are in it just to spread the message. Like the IBM smart planet ads, where they showcase their work which is doing good for the planet. Here the association is also direct, someone uses their product, they are doing something good for the planet. Recently I saw this ad, which asks people not to bribe officials to get their work done.

The message in itself is good. Good in a way like everyone thinks of getting up early and being healthy, wealthy and wise. But for a moment let us consider that everyone will wake up from their sleep and not give bribes again. Their is a moral loophole I see in here. Someone pays money in a bribe and in return gets his work done faster. And by saying “Khilana Bandh pilana Shuru”, they want people to consume more of their tea. By this they did accidentally implied that, be it any message their main reason for showing these ads is to increase their tea sale. Isn’t that immoral?

She’s not saasu maa (mother in law) yet. But it is close enough, or what else would you call a guy’s girlfriend’s mom? I have been observing how media’s portrayal of Indian sexuality is changing with time. I had written about the indian maid before. Now it is the turn of the saas (mother in law) and the saali (sister in law), in the Vjazz mobile and the Wildstone deodorant ad .

The point to be noticed here is that the ‘jija-sali‘ thing has been popular in Indian culture for quite some time. Sali aadhi gharwali or sister in law is half wife, has been used a zillion times, even in films. But this is one of the few times where the highlight is on the sexual nature of the relation. And I wouldn’t be surprised if this the first case of portraying sexual interest between mother in law and the guy, in Indian media. The key points to notice here are:

• aunty’s husband is away on a tour, and she’s so lonely
• with the guy’s antics aunty is surely enamored
• when aunty’s daughter finds them in such a situation, she gets nervous…Is it because of guilt?

Maybe a post on eroding traditional values is in order.

Lord Ganesha is the son of Lord Shiva and Parvati devi. He goes by other names like Vinayaka and Vighneshwara.

If we look in the etymology of the name “Ganesha”, it is formed by Gana + Eesh, where Eesh is short for Eeshwar, which means Lord. So Ganesha means lord of Gana. Gana means body of attendants, here referring to the huge retinue of Lord Shiva. And remarkably the Ganas are also known as Bhutagana, because Shiva is the only god anybody can go to. So all the rejects of the society get attracted to the matted hair and smoking dope god. Quoted from wikipedia,

the gana or bhutagana are attendants of Shiva that reside in chthonic and liminal locations such as cemeteries and charnel grounds.

In fact it is not long when Lord Ganesha was seen as Vighneshwara. Which means lord of obstacles. And he was seen as the god who creates obstacles if not pleased. So if you don’t appease him before any endeavor he might as well create obstacles. Which in time changed to the feeling that he protects you from obstacles. Quoted from new world encyclopedia,

As the “Lord of Obstacles,” Ganesha is responsible for creating obstructions of both a material and spiritual order. It is he who places obstacles in the path of those who need to be checked. Thus, Ganesha is thought to be the gatekeeper of shrines, and he is said to corrupt all those who are unworthy of entering such holy places by further deluding their minds with desires. [96] Ganesha can also remove obstacles for his devotees just as easily. Ganesha’s diametrically opposed functions as both obstacle-creator and obstacle-destroyer are vital to his character, giving it significant depth as he is venerable for both negative and a positive reasons.

This change in emphasis from creator of obstacles to protector from obstacles is accompanied by change in iconography. This is a painting from the 15th century, notice the number of weapons, and the fierce expression :

What can the marketer learn from this? That a brand identity can be changed, and in fact to exactly something diametrically opposite. How many marketers in today’s economy can claim to have achieved such a feat?

I can go on to other lessons you can get from Lord Ganesh, like the fact that the Ganesh Chathurthi celebrations in India was engineered so that, quoted from wiki

Lokamanya Tilak visualized the cultural importance of this deity and popularised Ganesha Chaturthi as a National Festival “to bridge the gap between the Brahmins and the non-Brahmins and find an appropriate context in which to build a new grassroots unity between them” in his nationalistic strivings against the British in Maharashtra.

Do you see any parallel between this and the many Days the greeting card companies have started promoting, from Mother’s day, Daughter’s day, Father’s day, and so on?

Ever heard of Kelloggs corn flakes? Sure you have and might be having it every morning for breakfast. After some initial marketing faux pas, it has slowly crept into the indian kitchen. For me it is an ideal example of how marketing can be used to push anything to anyone. Because indians have long used the humble rice flakes or poha as it is called, in breakfasts and snacks.

photo courtesy - http://flickr.com/photos/thebusybrain/2910289363/ and http://flickr.com/photos/ampersandyslexia/3245688281/

What I wonder is why no one has thought of promoting poha as a breakfast option. Off course with glitzy packaging and marketing. Chocalate coated poha? Tuti - Fruti poha? Why not.

Haldiram’s are you listening?