Tera Sabun slow hai kya ?

Lifebuoy Handwash ad campaign has used negative emotions of a young child to promote its product. The ad capitalizes on the shame felt by a young boy when he wants to follow the instructions given by his mother to wash hands for one full minute before eating' because he is not aware of this new product which can kill 99% germs in 10 secs if used for washing hands.

I am as usual not happy; not because I don't endorse faster hand washing with better efficiency or I have doubts on the claims made by the product but the fact that ad ridicules the child for following good hygiene and his mother's directions.

It is not so important for a young child to know if a product can indeed kill 99% germs in 10 secs; BUT IT IS VITAL that his faith in the institution of family' remains unfettered. It will help him keep his head on level shoulders and not chase every wonder product for its so called miraculous properties.           

Even at the cost of being dubbed as "uncool" and "not a fun loving person" I have to pick up Domino's Pizza for their latest campaign on fresh pan pizzas

Irresistible attraction that distracts from what you’re doing

The films opens on a football field, where a goal keeper is shown intentionally scoring an own goal. Of course he is replaced as a punishment. The next shot shows another players intentionally falling down and holding on to his ankle to show that he is injured; a stretcher comes on to get him off the field and he’s replaced. This is followed by yet another team mate of his kicking the referee instead of the ball, which gets him a Red Card and he’s sent off. The suspense behind these irrational moves is then thrown open as the trio are shown waiting in the dressing room for the delivery of their Pan Pizzas from Domino’s. The voice over then introduces the new offering from Domino’s and the film ends with shots of the three footballers enjoying the pizza.

 

Second film follows a similar script and opens on set of a play rehearsal. One of the characters, playing the role of Tansen, pretends to be afflicted by a throat problem and exits the set. He’s followed by an actor playing the role of a horse, followed by a man tasked with fanning the royalty. The lady playing the role of Jodha is the next to escape. The four meet in the dressing room and await the delivery of their pizza. The Domino’s delivery boy is shown entering the room and the voice over introduces the Pan Pizza range.   

 

On the new campaign, Harneet Singh Rajpal, VP marketing, Domino’s Pizza India, has stated, “Both our commercials are based on real life situations which bring forth the urge and desire in peoeel ple to have the soft, buttery, crunchy Pan Pizza leaving aside whatever they are doing. Football players and actors from a college play run away from their game and performances in order to cherish the taste of the new Pan Pizza. Keeping in focus the brand’s positioning on relationships (?), the new innovative product brings together people in a funny and mischievous way to enjoy their naughty ‘pizza’ moments together.”

I am either too old fashioned or completely out of sync with the acceptable norms of social existence in vogue. I feel uncomfortable if any thing at all; even if it is the tastiest pizza delivered at the green room while college drama festival is on or in the dressing room when football match is in progress.

I seek your your views as a teacher, coach or parents wanting to see your ward growing up as a well rounded personality.  

What affects us most...

Everything that we consume..food, clothes, accessories and brands, but more than that are the thoughts that we consume. In today's consumerist society whether we like it or not, we are constantly fed with thoughts, ideas and emotions that are not ours. Interestingly, the more we feed on them, the less we realize how impaired our thinking has become. Now the situation has reached such proportions that while we do not know whose ideas are we associating with, we remain convinced that all along these have been our own. That’s the mad mad world of advertisement.

While the main object of the ad campaigns continue to help us feel good about the decisions we purportedly make based on our buying power, thereby willy nilly channelize our hard earned money which may or may not be in our best of interests, but we are hardly aware of the compromise that has been covertly implanted in our minds and contribute towards the “I me and myself” sphere of philosophy of existence. 

As an aware citizen here I am going to make use of this platform, with all my earnestness to decode the subtle messages in the popular ad campaigns that should not be ignored for it may have the potential to influence our thinking against our wishes. 

First in the series is the AIRTEL MAGICIAN ad campaign with a tagline…..

"जब ज़िंदगी सताए मनोरंजन बचाए

I understand and accept the fact that we are fun loving good hearted people and all good hearted people like to enjoy humor. I also accept that we are mature enough to differentiate between the light hearted banter and malicious campaigns. We also know that anybody with basic IQ level cannot be influence to ignore the real emergency however tempting be the promise of an “internet joke”. But please touch your heart and ask yourself if you can comfortably ignore the power of classical conditioning? Can you deny how conveniently the gravity of inappropriateness hides behind the cloak of "humor"?   

Did you notice how innocuously an undesirable message creeps in with this humorous 45 second ad? 

How can a sane and responsible young girl not decide to use her cell phone to call for immediate help but would consider dialing 56789 to get a humorous astro prediction if struck in a mishap? Where is her sense of priority? does this ad inadvertently allows you to smile and ignore the lapse?  

I love humor, but I have serious objection to any conscious, subconscious or unconscious efforts that impair my sense of priority and judgment even if as a bye product of selling me whatever brings in the mullah.

Think about it and tell me because my own young adult urban children do not agree with me and they feel that I am having PHANTOMS fears. Am I?