The Ad Mad World (‘nuf ad fundas)

When the historian of the twentieth century shall have finished his narrative, and comes searching for the subtitle which shall best express the spirit of period, we think it not at all unlikely that he may select “The Age of Advertising” for the purpose.

Whenever we switch on the TV, we eventually end up browsing through ads in hundreds of channels. This prompted me to devote an article to “Advertisements and their impact” in the student’s exclusive literary platform- “Memoirs”. Did I hear someone say indirect advertisement??
“Living in an age of advertisements, we are perpetually disillusioned.”- J B Priestley
Advertisers constantly invent cures to which there is no disease. The difference between unethical and ethical advertisement is that unethical ad uses falsehoods to deceive the public whereas ethical ads uses truth to deceive the public.
At this stage, I would like to mention some of the advertising jargon. Agate line is a measure of advertising space. If you ever dare to create a newsletter, this proves to be a very handy tool, especially when you are short of articles. Then, there are brainstorming sessions just to generate creative ideas and buzzwords like the catch line of Ragam-06-“Stand out, Blend in.” Focus group is a group of potential consumers used in market research to determine the effectiveness of ads. But all said and done “Ad is an art of convincing people to spend money they don’t have for something they don’t need.”
It is an interesting fact that an actor impersonating a victim of headaches, indigestion or any ailment in a commercial is called a Merry Andrew, although such guys can be really embarrassing in those itch guard ads. Planned obsolescence is a method of stimulating consumer demand by designing products to become outdated or broken after limited use, something which we Indians are expert at. I would like to warn the readers from puffery and shills used in ads. Shills are persons planted in the audience (on the tv) to lure viewers into buying the product. Remember those Tele Shopping Network ads !
As Edgar rightly coined “Advertising is an art of making whole lies out of half truths.”
All these hard sell techniques, hymns, hooks and headshots of models result in impulse buying for momentary pleasure rather than out of genuine need.
Some are slice of life ads and some appeal to the consumers subconscious to buy the product.
Some are inspiring, like the Nike ‘ Just do it’, or the famous tomato sauce ad ‘Beanz meanz heinz’ which made waves in the USA.
Then there are teasers that arouse curiosity about the forthcoming product without naming it, like the ‘Amby valley’ one which killed the entertainment page of Times Of India for a week. Many a times, ads in the newspaper give more knowledge of what is going on in a state or community than the editorial columns.
As far as sniping (pasting up posters on walls etc) is concerned, NITC students are not far behind. The hoard of posters and notices reminds me of one stanza from Ogden Nash’s composition “Song of Open Road.”
I think that I shall never see
A Billboard lovely as a tree.
Perhaps, unless the billboards fall,
I’ll never see a tree at all.
Change ‘tree’ to ‘hostel walls’ and you get the NITC scenario.
There is a big deal about Celebrity Endorsements in India. Take for an example, Dravid, Sachin and Sehwag endorse different mobile networks, namely Hutch, Airtel & Reliance respectively. Last time we heard, all three of them were playing for the same side. I may agree that Big B uses only Parker pen for signing autographs, but cooling his head by using Navratna oil or resorting to ‘Hajmola’ after indigestion ? C’mon, gimme a ‘break’ !
Any article on advertisement is incomplete without the mention of the Indian ad icon, Piyush Pandey, creator of the Fevicol ad series. From the village belle to the shadow of the man to the crowded bus to the bridegroom in the train to the suicide attempt, they have always managed to bring a smile on the viewer’s face. Set in a rural backdrop with an earthly feel, this ad shows a mother trying to make her kid sit next to her while she is busy cooking. But the kid prefers to wander. Finally mom dumps him on an empty container of Fevicol and the kid stays put. Even before the climax, you could make out that the ad was of Fevicol. For the Malli junta, who can forget the superb Asian Paints ad in the form of a ‘Katha Prasangam’. But on the other hand, the Vanamala washing soap ad with its jingle was so irritating that I still remember it. Thus the purpose of the ad was anyway served.
I have always believed that writing ads is the second most profitable form of writing. The first, of course, is writing ransom notes.
To conclude it all, the man who stops advertising to save money is like the man who stops the clock to save time.
Purnachandran Nair
Disclaimer: All opinions expressed in this article
are of the author alone. The author has no intentions
of offending any brand.