I have said this before and I must say it again. Subtlety is completely lost on the majority of Indians. Every now and then I see some brilliant piece of advertising on TV but before I know it, they've gone ahead and added explanatory lines, or a super or a voice over, something to make the ad more comprehensible, and that totally rids it of its creatvity and charm and defeats the very purpose. If I can feel so frustarted just watching the ad, I shudder to think what the writer/creator of the ad must feel. They must be having to drown themselves in alcohol.
Here are examples:
Aamir Khan as a Chinese waiter on a train serving Coke. Brilliant ad, because it plays on our great Indian habit of belching in public unapologetically. And the song too says dikhte hain sab alag alag par andar say hain sab same same. It goes on to say something to the effect of 'come out of yourself' basically implying (by showing the diversity op people on board) that whether you are a uber cool dude, a PYT, a middle class exec or a rich industrialist, some habits are inherently Indian and it's nothing to be embarrassed off. We should learn to laugh at ourselves. We all pretend to be sophisticated but at the end of the day some of these habits don't leave you. The ad was great because it used expressions and the music and managed to convey it all brillaintly but no, they had to add a voice over for Aamir questioning who drank the Coke etc which killed the ad.
My fave example is of the paints ad, the Shyam babu, badiya hai ad. That too was brilliant with the insinuation that the paint has lasted so many years even as the owner's first wife has died and he has re-married. The actors' expressions were brill but again it had to be simplified as I cringed in frustration.
There was another ad on my mind which I can't remember now but will add soon.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Subtlety is not lost on the mass audience, in my observation. It's the overanglicized "suits" who spoil it all with their explanation orders (as fig leaves for their own lack of mass connect), as perhaps happened in Coca-Cola steamtrain's case (was a later superimposition: a no-no for any real creative).
People out there, more often than not, "get it" and like to exercise their brains and get up to speed.
Never underestimate public awareness, whatever the appearances. In cinema, o-so-often it's the kid in the hall who tells the folks that a dream sequence is a flight of fancy, some sorta representational art, not to be taken literally.
The other ad haven't seen, but yeah, the obvious should be left to suggest itself, not be s-p-e-l-t out. Subtlety is what art is
Speaking of subtlety, the size and focus of the target audience can matter a lot. In that context, here's an article from a special circulation paper:
Face it. There are two things you can’t escape: school ties (of all stripes) and The Oliphant (which never forgets). As someone who had the privilege of playing editor in the latter-1980s, when opting for the role involved the expedient of everyone else taking one step back in unison (ala Jungle Patrol), I go gooey with nostalgia at its very mention.
In four years, the newsletter evolved from Whodunnit Hubbub to 1984 Thwarter, and from Checklist Charlie to Wall Buster, with John Farnham’s Voice to egg us on. This sounds like serious stuff, and serious we indeed were about getting our words across “The Wall” to the… well-hmmm… girls, the cuddly creatures of campus folklore on the other side of Circular Road’s searchlight patrol.
The newsletter went pink in the ink, but the only wall to fall was far away. Anyhow, it gave me my first few media lessons. First, grab an audience, doing wheelies with words if need be. And second, learn to knot unlikely ties. Oh, I still have that throat lump. It’s striped.
Post a Comment