Reading A Polish Joke Book

For the ‘oldies’, this is a trip down memory lane. Back to the days of the Bournvita Quiz Contest and a time when cigarettes act­ually did advertise and ‘Made for Each Other’ was a buzzword. Parameswaran divides his book deftly into target audience, pro­ducts, services and narratives. He sets out by defining the new Indian consu­mer—the metrosexual, to whom fairness products are important, the new child nawab, to whom advertisers are talking, knowing that the kid will rule the roost in brand terms and the new woman, who can work as her husband’s boss.

It will surprise no one that advertising reflects its times and that it is not in the business of activism. The Tan­i­shq ad film about a dark woman marrying for the sec­­­­ond time with a daughter who jumps into the rituals is a tale about an advanced client who had the courage to approve the ad. Myntra took it further with an ad that literally showed coming out of the closet. Complan made the point that Indian girls had their own identity and deserved to be part of a media that had once only focused on families with sons. Fair and Lovely had the insight that women looking for jobs needed to be presentable, so it was not just a matter of looking fairer to find a husband.

With changing society and audiences, the services fell in line. The Hari Sadu ad for Naukri was based on the corporate philosophy that a large percentage of office executives disliked their immediate superiors. The importance of OTC drugs and getting Indians to pop pills for headaches and sniffles led to the introduction of Vicks cough lozenges and Coldarin.

Parameswaran covers a gamut of anecdotes to illustrate his point. We hear about the diverse talent that goes into the creation of psychologically relevant communication. Hip hop or Baul ballads? Choices must be made about the music that plays in the background. And a new dialect called Hinglish has crept in to reflect the way modern India speaks, though the credit for that is due to Shobha De, former editor of Stardust.

Parameswaran also points out that same language subtitling was introduced to help increasingly rural audiences along the path of literacy, which is something not many people would realise. And it is bec­ause of rural exposure that modern TV commercials have become wordy—people are being introduced to products which they have never experienced before. In fact, Parames­waran predicts that the div­ide between town and country will be erased, so that advertisers will have to search for new psychological inputs to help them bridge the communication gap.

Parmeswaran tactfully does not delve into the reason why many of the advertisements were ‘inspired’ by foreign counterparts. The Dhara ad about the little boy who runs away, to be stopped by the postman with the promise of jalebis at home, comes from the British Hovis ad. Or the Tufts shoes commercial, which triggered an unending lawsuit on mor­ality, borrowed from a vision of Nastassja Kinski kinkily wrapped in a python.

Quite obviously, the book is not all inc­lusive; for example, agency kudos are restricted to FCB Ulka, Lowe Lintas, HTA (now JWT) and Piyush Pandey and O&M, though one might argue that they are landmarks.

Not that any of this detracts from what Parameswaran has to say. He serves up a history, making relevant points, highlights snippets of interests for readers fascinated by but new to the world of Mad Men and ends with a thought-provoking series of forecasts for the future of the trade. A little more editing and proofing would have added to the experience.