The age of innovation is a bit ironical at times, we use latest technology to view our past in different and better perspectives…in short “we use the new to see the old”. Talking about the old, these days a lot of youngsters keep old ad jingles as ringtones on their cell phones, something which the stiff upper collar & the Asian paints make-up community, in short, the high society thinks as ‘too LS’ (low society = not classy)…To hell with high society-wallas, I think its damn cool, I have the ‘Zandu balm’ jingle ringing every time my boss calls on my cell, reminds me what a pain he is!!!
Not beating around the bush but beating the bush itself, it would be safe to say that these age old Doordarshan ads have become kind of a cult today. No wonder as they had the advantage of being telecasted in the era when cable television was a myth and Doordarshan was the only channel option provided to the entire country free of cost (no point buying a 100 channel TV then!!!). Also the programs during which these ads were slotted were watched by the entire country in towns; villages and metros not only due to lack of options but due to the ingenuity & superior story telling they exhibited (remember Ramayana & Mahabharata). Given the above the scenario it would be unfair to say that these ads didn’t have a superior edge in entering the books of nostalgia.
But all the edges & advantages given, these ads still exhibited something that the ads today miss…clarity of message. With the whole country as your target audience, you really had to be bang on & to the point or else you will miss by miles, something that most of these ads did brilliantly!! Simple messages like “Tandrusti ki raksha karta hai Lifebuoy”, icons like “Deepikaji” (Sita from Ramayana) & slogans like “Humara Bajaj” made these ads a perfect example of playing to your strengths than to mourn over the lack of superior technology and funds to do the extraordinary. Today the markets are bigger, the technology is better and the money is more than ever, but still with all these in our armory, our ads seem to be targeted to the wall & the sofa sets rather than the consumer. It’s like 90% of the ads can run a slogan “of the retard, for the retard & by the retard”!!!
Apologizing for the sarcasm I would like to add that not all advertisements are senseless, a handpicked few do marshal their resources brilliantly to gives us messages that become bigger than the brand themselves. While respecting the brilliant few, I remember a line always mouthed by my college professor Mr. Sunil before throwing me out of the class,“Ek kharab machli poore talab ko kharab karti hai” but “Agar poora talab kharab ho aur sirf kuch machliyan achhin ho, tab kya? Kyon Sunil Babu, badhiyan hai”. They say, learn from the past & apply in the present to have a better future, which is why the next generation of creative copywriters, marketing and communications experts rolling out of prestigious communication schools have the uphill task of doing away with stupidity sold as creativity & bringing back the era where every ad is treated as an entertainment film of 30 seconds. Itni se khwaish hai, bus hume aur kuch nahi chahiye, sirf “baratiyon ka swagat paan parag se ho”
Not beating around the bush but beating the bush itself, it would be safe to say that these age old Doordarshan ads have become kind of a cult today. No wonder as they had the advantage of being telecasted in the era when cable television was a myth and Doordarshan was the only channel option provided to the entire country free of cost (no point buying a 100 channel TV then!!!). Also the programs during which these ads were slotted were watched by the entire country in towns; villages and metros not only due to lack of options but due to the ingenuity & superior story telling they exhibited (remember Ramayana & Mahabharata). Given the above the scenario it would be unfair to say that these ads didn’t have a superior edge in entering the books of nostalgia.
But all the edges & advantages given, these ads still exhibited something that the ads today miss…clarity of message. With the whole country as your target audience, you really had to be bang on & to the point or else you will miss by miles, something that most of these ads did brilliantly!! Simple messages like “Tandrusti ki raksha karta hai Lifebuoy”, icons like “Deepikaji” (Sita from Ramayana) & slogans like “Humara Bajaj” made these ads a perfect example of playing to your strengths than to mourn over the lack of superior technology and funds to do the extraordinary. Today the markets are bigger, the technology is better and the money is more than ever, but still with all these in our armory, our ads seem to be targeted to the wall & the sofa sets rather than the consumer. It’s like 90% of the ads can run a slogan “of the retard, for the retard & by the retard”!!!
Apologizing for the sarcasm I would like to add that not all advertisements are senseless, a handpicked few do marshal their resources brilliantly to gives us messages that become bigger than the brand themselves. While respecting the brilliant few, I remember a line always mouthed by my college professor Mr. Sunil before throwing me out of the class,“Ek kharab machli poore talab ko kharab karti hai” but “Agar poora talab kharab ho aur sirf kuch machliyan achhin ho, tab kya? Kyon Sunil Babu, badhiyan hai”. They say, learn from the past & apply in the present to have a better future, which is why the next generation of creative copywriters, marketing and communications experts rolling out of prestigious communication schools have the uphill task of doing away with stupidity sold as creativity & bringing back the era where every ad is treated as an entertainment film of 30 seconds. Itni se khwaish hai, bus hume aur kuch nahi chahiye, sirf “baratiyon ka swagat paan parag se ho”
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