The 'Mad Ad' World

A newbie is at a German coast guard radio station when the voice at the other end of an incoming message says “May day, May day!! Can you hear us?? We’re sinking...” The German at this end says “Hello, Zis is ze German Coast Guard”. The person at the other end, obviously with a panic stricken voice says, “We’re sinking, we’re sinking.” The German replies “What are you sinking about?” ‘Improve your English.’

That was just an ad for an English language school. Just to tell you what modern day advertising has become. The same ad a couple of decades ago would have highlighted the number of courses they offer for a variety of students and the experience they have or maybe a few alumni who have made it big after their course.

Moreover, in the 1950s, when the television quickly became the hottest consumer property - no home could be without one. And so where the sets went, the advertisers followed, spilling fantasies about better living. Ever since, the consumer only got richer, with more money to spend, but smarter as well, knowing pretty we’ll what not to spend on. He was no more the guy who would buy an expensive watch just coz an attractive sales person was selling it or just coz his tennis idol wore the same brand on TV.

Ads were no more just about highlighting your product or your campaign. They were about grabbing your audience’s attention and hitting straight where it got the audience thinking, set off a long lasting relationship with the consumer, made a bond for life, touched that chord of the consumer’s life, and got him emotionally attached to the ad as if the characters in the ad were his own family. As if it was you who came home on the night of karva chauth and took your wife by her hand, drove her to a beach and showed her the moon through the sunroof of your elegant Chevrolet Optra. And all of this within a crisp 45 seconds or at best, a minute and a half. The whole objective of advertising was now the audience and not the product being advertised. As Toyota very aptly put it “we don’t fit you in any other car, we build the car around you”!!

Another thing that still remains and I hope will always remain with the institution of advertising is creativity. The beautiful mix of humor, fantasy, wordplay, out-of-the-box thinking AND keeping it simple at the same time requires some real creative genius don’t you think???? A man waiting in the elevator whole day, getting tired but still holding on already has the sympathy of everyone watching when he finally meets a cute girl he’s never seen before. Everyone’s happy. “you will meet your soul mate in the elevator today”. Vodafone horoscope alerts@ Rs 30 per month.

Advertising and creativity go beyond television too. Picture this. 3M, the popular brand, makes glass so strong that they make compartments of it, fill them up with real currency and fix them up at a bus stop. People tried their luck with golf clubs, hockey sticks, baseball bats and what not. To gain nothing but a little sweat, of course. Brandvertising!!

The latest trend in advertising is creating social awareness about issues, or get across social messages or inspiring the audience more than selling their product. Two kids start fighting on the street on a mutual agreement; literally getting their hands dirty, just to distract their dad’s who’re involved in some stupid quarrel. Daag acche hain. Surf Excel. Or a citizen starts asking questions about a politicians qualification or workex before he decides who to vote for. Or “How about we name bad roads after the contractors that built them” Babu Lal marg. Estd 6th dec 2007... Don’t just wake up every morning. Awaken. Tata Tea. Not sure how fruitful it is in selling more of your tea or soap but sure its waking India up.

But advertising is not always good and right. Creativity can be misused. Surrogate advertising. Advertising for alcohol and liqueur isn’t allowed. So advertise for packaged mineral water, or music cds or excellence awards under the same brand name while we all know you’re trying to sell either scotch or vodka or rum.

Being blatantly misused as well these days is Sleaze. Why else would you need barely clad women to convince you to buy the latest version of your minty fresh toothpaste. According to psychologists, advertisers want you to feel a certain way about their product, create mental associations, and want you to feel the same way about the toothpaste and the girl. Sleaze is exploited everyday in advertising. As someone rightly put it - ‘Advertising is the art of making whole lies out of half truths.’

Advertising has begun to have negative impacts on people as well especially children. Parents complain "In general, my child refuses to eat anything that hasn't danced on TV." Or the misconception that fair implies beautiful, has led many a youngster into depression coz he/she is dark. I mean what the hell happened to “Tall dark and handsome, or the dusky beauty every guy craved for”????? Which world are we living in, Dear who’s who of the advertising world.

So, all that matters in the end is whether they’ve managed to create a lasting impression on you that lasts beyond the ad, till you get to the store to buy the product or even longer. Good or bad, they couldn’t care less. If you buy the product, or even give it a second thought, they’ve done their job and they’ve done it well. Love it, hate it, like it, loath it, but you just can’t ignore it.