"My Favourite ad" award for the strongest and lightest ever

What a concept! To be strong and light at the same time. Trust Samsonite to introduce such a product.

But what inspired me to write this blog-post is the TVC I saw of it. I was floored.

A man cartwheeling, holding the suitcase. I doubt there is a more simpler and more creative way to demonstrate lightest AND strongest. The art direction of the commercial is a total bonus. Deadly combination of beauty and brains. Pardon the cliched usage.

See the ad here. The cleverest and prettiest ad ever. Dare I say!

Intolerance to memorising

I have spent the last 1 and half months (roughly) in close proximity to my grand-parents. I see that they lay heavy weightage on memorising things. Phone numbers, distances, maps, relationship-connections etc.

I see that my grand-dad prefers to make a rough draft before writing a letter or filling out an application form etc.

I remember being the same until a few months (or is it years) ago. But now, the internet equipped computer age which allows me instant access to information, editing and spell checks makes me intolerant to the erstwhile systems.

I no longer see virtue in or feel the drive to deliberately learn things by heart. I no longer want to jot down things I find interesting - recipes, songs, names, addresses - not even phone numbers.

When I meet someone interesting, I normally google or facebook their contacts.

My thinking is that the human race is slowly going to use lesser and lesser of their memory cells.

This will either make the human brain (and head) smaller over generations or it will enable the human race to sharpen other aspects of the brain - analysis, creativity, inventions. (thereby keeping our appearance the same)

What do you think?

So, what else is new?

I have been seeing this on Indian television channels. Every single brand of mens' deodorant makes advertisements that follow the hackneyed Axe-effect concept. Okay, not every single brand. Park Avenue comes to mind, with its "don't be invisible" concept. Hats off to the brand and agency behind. They managed to find a different yet relevant stand for themselves.

Then there is wildstone that at least attempts to create an entirely different setting - spicing it up with some desi flavour.

What me-too advertisements do is simple. They provide free advertising to the brand that originally adopted that stand. The different brands don't register in people's minds unless they see entirely different stories in their respective advertisements.

There is a brand of deo that is currently running an ad featuring a man, seated in a movie theatre watching Bipasha on screen. He unbuttons his shirt and wham! Bips steps right out of the screen and walks up to this man, attracted by the deo he was wearing of course.

I have seen this ad a reasonable number of times and always thought it was an Axe-effect ad. Only yesterday did I happen to notice that it was a different brand. (and I can't recall which one it was now). It made me think they were doing AXE a big favour by doing exactly what they do.

I am disappointed that Airtel does the same with its newest ad. Their ad features a little girl ...a little girl..ring a bell?

Surely, you couldn't have missed the telecom brand that has been "happy to help" a sweet little girl trying to do silly things like take a shower in a cubicle by the sea or bake a cake (at her age!) etc.

I have huge respect for Airtel's iconic "express yourself" and "if only we talk to each other" ads. Even their daily ads with the little boy on his toy phone and the Madhavan-Vidya ads are charming and stand their own ground.

So dear Airtel, why this now?

(their current "keep your friends close" ad featuring the little girl, causing me to complain is not yet on youtube. So, you will need to catch it on TV)

Picture courtesy: getty images

What's wrong with today's advertising award shows?

Read this article on the 'adsoftheworld' website and decided this article deserved a mention on my humble blog.

I subscribe to these views completely. Here are 4 things pointed out by the author:

1) Effectiveness isn't considered

2) Scams are allowed

3) Patting our own shoulders - no one outside of the ad industry takes them seriously

4) High cost of entry.

Read more here.

Me & Meri Maggi

I have ALWAYS wondered why Maggi instant noodles has consistently targetted only school kids. (In India)

Though I must admit I quite liked the Maggi ads when I was growing up. I can still sing out the whole jingle, particularly the one which went:

"mummy badi gazab ki bhook lagi...* "

No matter how much kids loved Maggi, it was still a forbidden food in India. It fell in the 'junk food' food-group. I have eaten a lot more Maggi as a grown up than as a child. In the college canteen, and later when I lived alone, away from home. And at the cafeterias of the offices where i worked! Even now, after being married, I enjoy an occasional evening snack of Maggi noodles with some cheese on the side.

Which is why the new "Me aur meri**" Maggi campaign makes SO much sense! They seem to have suddenly woken up and smelt the coffee or should i say Maggi on their 25th birthday!

It feels like finally having your love reciprocated. Maggi suddenly took notice of me.

Maggi, in India is much more than a kids answer to sudden hunger. You can see all that Maggi stands for on their beautiful website meandmeri.in where consumers have themselves sent in their Maggi stories.

You can see the ad and read more about the campaign and the people behind it here.

There's even a Maggi time-machine on their website where you can find the Maggi ad of my childhood days.

* loosely translated - mummy, feeling REALLY hungry!!!"

** me and my maggi

Smile time again

Everybody seeks approval.

No matter how obviously good we may be at something, we still seek approval.

This post is in continuation of the 'smile' series of posts. Those of you who missed them can see the previous two posts on the subject here and here. A good insight always makes you smile.

Acknowledgements: I would like to thank Meraj for pointing out this insight when it unexpectedly sprang up during one of our many casual conversations.

Is 'impatience' a good word?

About Airtel's new ad promoting it's broadband service, I think it is wrong to glorify "impatience" amongst youth.

Impatience like violence is a vice and rarely leads to anything constructive.

The creators of this ad are right about the observation that today's youth have a greater drive to achieve but they are wrong in assuming that it is 'impatience' that is giving them this drive.

It is not impatience that drives today's youth to achieve more. It is increased opportunity and increased consumerism. Youth today dare to set high goals because they know they can't be stopped. The youth of today has more opportunity and a wider platform (interestingly, facilitated by the Internet) than I had just 10 years ago. Today's youth is a slave to consumerism and are prepared to work for it.

Impatience causes people to honk persistently when stuck in a traffic jam. Impatience causes you to quit your job every 9 months. Impatience makes you avoid exercise and resort to those flab reducing belts instead. Impatience makes you thrive on fast food and instant noodles. impatience makes you want to study only those sections that are important for the exam and ignore the rest. Impatient people over-speed and jump the signal.

In these times especially one needs to nurture the virtue of patience.

I can see the logic behind a broadband company glorifying impatience as it means that they respect your impatience and hence will deliver high speed Internet. That's one way to look at it.

Interesting concept from the brand's point of view. But disapproved of from a social point of view.

More importantly, this ad errs in portraying "impatience" like it is a modern day attitude.

Whereas impatience has been the wont of youth since time immemorial.

There's even an age-old Chinese proverb on impatience:

"you can't help shoots grow by puling them higher"

I will be convinced otherwise the day I meet a successful man or woman who tells me that the force behind his/her success was his/her impatience,

Until then, it's thumbs down for making "impatient" sound like it is a good attitude to have.

Meanwhile their 360 degree campaign which simply plays on the words "can't wait" is a harmless fun and relevant way to connect to the youth. Thumbs up to that.

It's like translating "yeh dil maange more" to "greed is the new way of life" and then glorifying "the greedy ones". Wouldn't sound right right?