Tuesday, May 06, 2008

The idiot box and ads!!

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And there is Sreesanth running in…..

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What a delivery!! Simply rocked his…

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$#%$#%$#^” (some soapy crap… didn’t bother to listen!!)

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Ek uncha lamba kad…

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Alright XXX, are you ready for the task??

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And Khali….

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Click!!
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Is this what happens when you switch on you TV everyday??
At times, which is about every 15-20 minutes, the idiot box bugs me like no one else. I mean, every time I switch on it’s either the IPL these days, or some crappy soap opera, or some reality show, or some talent show…. I mean... GAWD!! Is that there is?? And then is a particular insufferable news channel which continues showcasing the life and happenings of a wrestler named Khali… to an extent, I really am afraid to switch to that channel. The movie channels… well not always good but then comparatively palatable?? May be!! Let’s now include them in this rant now!!

Hmmm… now where was I?? Oh yeah!! For souls like me who are living far from their family, there’s only so much that you can chat on the phone and to top it all if you have no internet connection… no wait… no computer, the TV is the only respite that you might have to shrug away the few hours after you return from work till the time you turn in. So, handicapped with these situations, I plopped down on the bean bag, to surf through (really that all you can do... the fingers thus are quite strong!! :P). And then I get barraged with the usual stuff. In between all this I try to observe the ads and finally decided more often that not its perhaps the ads which are worth watching. Imagine a Ranbir Kapoor thinking on his feet and concocting a “Youngistan”, and then in a subsequent ad actually speaking out about “Youngistan” and what it really does imply, (instead of a license to fool a space crazy bro to get into the house of your girl.. dats outright stupid!!) and finally ending it with a smart alecky answer!! Well, the idea that I’m trying to drive home is may be these ads are for just 30 sec, but the entire work that goes in conceptualizing and creating is way too cool!!

Sample the Max New York Life Insurance ad: Wife walks in, couldn’t find husband (who by the way is happily snoring away on the terrace), and when finally sees him sprawled on the chair her mind flips for the worst. He does wake up much to her relief… but then the idea conveyed is so simple – Life is unpredictable, so take care of your near dear ones before time runs out on you!! Can you think of something better?? Of course, you can!! See, that’s the advantage of good ad-films – they connect to you.

Another beautiful ad that is being nowadays is the Frankfinn one. It really showcases what the young ladies today think, whether they really abhor customs or do they respect it and yet want to carve a niche for themselves.

And then there is the Airtel ad featuring actors Madhavan and Vidya Balan. The conversations of a loving couple during roaming and on STD can be stretched and made without a worry of the costs to be incurred. The concept of the ad really makes one sit up and look. And then there’s the one about a kid talking to her father as he helps her draw a picture. Lovely isn’t it?

The world of ad-films is really amazing!! I mean, if you got a product you better make a good ad-film to make people talk about it. That I believe is part of marketing and may be product management, but then that qualifies for a different post altogether. I wish I could tell you how they go about making one, but then that is not my field. Hopefully, I can tell you one day what goes into making an ad-film.

Till then, cheerio!!

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ads screw up the continuity and the flow of the game or the movie :(

vanilla sky said...

the fevicol and vodafone ads are always very entertaining!

and among the crappy ones, there was a 'crafted for fantasy ' -- tagline ad which had no conection with the pproduct itself!

Macadamia The Nut said...

Sometimes even a bad ad can capture your attention and stick on to your mind, for being outrageous.
I would define those as 'good ads' too because they've succeeded in penetrating indifference, no?

loony girl said...

you n i.... in this beautiful world! green grass blue skies! in this beautiful world!! :D

ah, the beauty of it all! :)

Phoenix said...

ads these days are so beautiful...it captures our imagination beautifully

Occasional Brilliance said...

i really like the airtel ad with the little girl wantng her dad to help her with drawing things... the fact that he uses the starts and everything... its just too perfect... :P

that and i can always pictuure tanuj doing that for his children... it brought tears to my eyes the first time i saw it - as supid as that sounds...

Realistic me... said...

Ads these days are beautiful! Marketing is such an interesting field. :)

Oh! And, I also like the ad by this insurance company, wherein this walks in to buy himself a cup of coffee...

Satish Bolla said...

these reality shows, IPL n the soaps r so boring that these days, i enjoy the ads that come in between then rather than the real programs. after a long gap, i was getting hooked to NGC n discovery channel, thanks to the indian channels.
even i wrote somethin abt how amazing the ads r these days. nice to see someone els too noticed the effort put in them.

Sam said...

@ashu:
may be they do... but at times they also break the monotonous nature of action... btw, i skipped movie channels from my list!! :)

Sam said...

@vanilla sky:
crafted for fantasy, that does sound familiar.. ony can't recall the product....

Sam said...

@mac:
depends...
sometimes end up remembering a ad not for the product but simplyt for the ad..a dn how it really doesn't add to teh brand value....
may dats teh critical me... and some ads are really repetitive!!

a good ad... the recent marie biscuit ad, where a lady ties a bandana arnd her head.. does rap number by going YO! marie!!
now dat wil always stick arnd.. and frankly, the effort clearly is to reach out to the crowd below 30, how somehow stay away from marie biscuits!! at least teh brand image is being changed!

Sam said...

@solo:
truly one of teh best!!

Sam said...

@phoenix:
very true.. n dats what an ad should be about!!

Sam said...

@bubbles:

well... we alwys end up equating such humane ads with someone we know, don't we??
and dats the key to teh ad's efectiveness!!

Sam said...

@realistic me.:

dunno abt dat one... can u help me recall??

Sam said...

@satish:
oh trust me ads have always interested me.. except wen i'm watching a movie :P
otehrwise, it realy is amazing how a compete story is being told in a 30-sec timeframe!! too good!!

Realistic me... said...

This ad is by an insurance company(I think). Saw it on CNBCTV-18...

A guy walks into a cafe to buy himself a cup of coffee and he is amazed to see the amount of options available. He is asked a number of questions like jamaican beans or...normal sugar/brown sugar...and a number of others which leaves him confused.

The tagline says "makes life easier" or soemthing...

Sharodindu said...

ADs are a part of our world of entertainment....i used to think like that...when i joined my MBA i used to think how we are boosting the media industry by putting our ads...
Then all of a sudden, i found world space radio....the only commercial ad free radio in india...i realized how ad is hampering our entertainment...like a harmful adulteration...
the world if turing towards organic foods and natural lifestyle...does it indicates the futre abolition of this adulteration (ad)from our media space?

Pri said...

the 'hutch' and 'airtel' ads have always been my fav :)
its fun to watch the 'cocacola and pepsi' ad wars too :D

Sam said...

@realist me:

dat snds familiar.. might've seen it sometime!!

Sam said...

@nemesis:

quite true.. but then i don't think ads would ever stop because the unlike world space the programs get a chunk of their revenues from ads.. so its symbiotic relationship!!

Sam said...

@pri:

airtel and vodafone really work hard on their ads and create a true brand image...

the cola ads though work more at projecting first teh spirit and then going one up on their competititor... pointless!!!

IncorrigibleV said...

*sigh* u made remember the airtel madhavan and vidya balan ads again
i soooo totally love both the ads, infact ive been wanting to download or atleast find them on youtube but nahi mile :(
i have a major crush on madhavan now !!!
sigh sam now im blushin :)

Sam said...

@vands:

well those ads are so very lovely... and well... again a touch of nostalgia there too!! :P

Sameer said...

Max New York Life Insurance wala wasn't that good....in fact its boring....

airtel is always good

and you missed out vodafone (specially the lift one) and moto ads