By Jaideep Shergill
“Why so serious†says the Joker in the Batman film, just before he proceeds to kill the man he has in his vice-like grip. The consternation and anger that I am seeing all over Twitter and every other possible social media and traditional media outlet is reminding me of this line only because as a country we are too bloody serious about everything and everyone nowadays. To make matters worse, we continue to get gypped by mass media advertising just like we have over and over for decades. We must realise that nearly every time we buy or recommend a product or service we have been taken for a ride by the legions of advertising cons and their over-enthused clients who essentially don’t know the difference between their elbows and their ^@#^@^%.
If you still don’t know what I am talking about, I am sure you (just like millions of us) woke up to advertising screaming at you via all possible formats even as India reeled under the shock of the now infamous Pan Bahar campaign starring none other than our beloved 007, Pierce Brosnan as the ambassador for the pan masala brand. So why exactly is everyone getting their knickers into knots over this campaign? All kinds of reasons are being cited: inappropriate choice of brand ambassador, Pierce Brosnan is too classy for a pan masala campaign, waste of money, terrible campaign and so on. Having said this, the client, agencies involved in the campaign and media outlets are the ones having the last laugh as they seem to believe this will work for them all. Some will make money and others (like the client) will be given the placebo that this will make their brand succeed.
It’s amazing how something as inane as this ad was able to get all the eyeballs and hog the entire digital news cycle for well over 48 hours. By the end of the first cycle of anger and angst, however, many had taken to poking some fun and lightening up a little. Several had come up with witty one-liners and the internet has since been taken over by jokes about the Bond star and his choice of endorsement ranging from some really funny ones to the inanest jokes one can think of. Glad the funny bone kicked in finally!
I am still obliged to ask why is this any different from all the cons that have been pulled in the past. Hasn’t the mad ad world pulled enough wool over our eyes already? Customers have been subjected to inane and inappropriate advertising from time immemorial and that’s the fundamental premise of most of these campaigns. This is not the first time we have a mismatch between a brand ambassador and the product being endorsed and this wont be the last time, trust me.
Coming back to the campaign, I do encourage all you readers to watch the commercial. Its hilarious! I couldn’t stop laughing and I promise this ad will make your day and the next few after, https://youtu.be/ob1RBsKnLP0 and after this is long forgotten, it will go down in the annals of stupidity for the next 700 years.
Of course, as suckers, we will continue to shell out our hard earned money to buy the products and services being pushed through using all forms of trashy communication methodologies. Creativity is no longer about the telling of the story but about the easiest and most ludicrous ways to fool customers. The the next bunch of cons artistes are huddling together even as I write this and will soon launch another campaign to fool us all and I promise you, fooled we will be!
Of course, all’s well that ends well as the famous bard once said. Happy client, happy agency, happy Brosnan! Who are we to grudge?