MxMIndia

Tag: The Devil’s advocate

  • What's missing now is a 21st century Captain America to take him on and new set of Allies who can deal with this mad man, writes Jaideep Shergill

    Jaideep Shergill: It’s the end of the world as we know It…

    By Jaideep Shergill

     

    Many of you readers will remember the lyrics of this famous anthem by the band, R.E.M. More recently, Stephen Colbert parodied the song on his year end show. Little did R.E.M then and Colbert now have any clue of what was to come in the new year, once Trump was sworn in.

    Of course, Trump has since continued to play to his supporters whilst ignoring the rest of America and the world as he signs order after order wreaking more havoc everywhere.

    President Obama signed 277 Executive orders while in office, an average of 35 a year. Trump has already signed 13 in a week.

    If Trump has his way, there will be a giant wall separating the USA from Mexico, the Klu Klux Klan will see a revival, minorities will be discriminated against, immigrants will be stopped from entering the USA, Deportations will be a way of life, NATO will be dismantled along with half a dozen trade deals, the media will be forced to cover only what he wants and this is only the beginning. Wait and see what happens next!

    Trump also has quickly made the cut and has the unique distinction of now joining the ranks of some of the worst leaders of modern times including Robert Mugabe, Bashar al-Assad, Kim Jong Il, Moammar Qaddafi, Saddam Hussain among others. Trump now joins the ranks of the greatest megalomaniacs, misogynists, despots and nut jobs on the planet!

    When I was growing up, I would devour superhero comics from India and overseas: A much harder proposition getting hold of DC or Marvel back then (you kids have it much easier now). One of my favorites even back then was Captain America. Steve Rogers stood for everything that was right and fought against evil relentlessly. Captain America was created during war time (1941) a patriot super soldier whose only purpose in life was to fight the Axis powers and his arch enemy was Red Skull, a Nazi agent.

    Since Trump has thrived on misinformation and alternate facts, lets see how everything looks in the alternate universe right now. For starters, Trump could easily be the next Red Skull. The composition of the Axis powers has changed of course and Trump aka Red Skull now has Russia, Iran and Turkey on his side. May be North Korea and Pakistan will be next to join the new Axis. Many of these nations including Trump’s regime are responsible for muzzling the media and not allowing free press and dialogue. Opposition is taken as dissent and going backwards in time vs. forward seems to be the new normal.

    Of course, on social media and elsewhere, I am even seeing comparisons between Trump and Adolf Hitler. Even closer to Red Skull now, you see.

    So what’s missing now is a 21st century Captain America to take him on and new set of Allies who can deal with this mad man. A number of experts continue to wish and pray that Trump doesn’t stay two terms. In fact, there is a growing school of thought which says that he may not even last a full term. This said, one must also remember that its not so much about how long Trump lasts but whether the rest of America and the world can out last him.

    Until this happens, I will continue to hum along and pray for us all…

    It’s the end of the world as we know it

    It’s the end of the world as we know it

    It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel…

     

     

     

  • Like many people out there, I really don't know what to make of him. I don't think he knows either, writes Jaideep Shergill

    Jaideep Shergill: Is Donald Trump the Manchurian Candidate?

    By Jaideep Shergill

     

    I am more than a bit teary-eyed coming off President Obama’s farewell speech and my last piece was all about Obama’s legacy. So now it’s time folks for the inevitable (beginning of the end?!) new world order. The new President-elect, Donald J Trump is just days away from the White House and from becoming the leader of the free world.

     

    Frankly, like many people out there, I really don’t know what to make of him. I don’t think he knows either. This said, it’s very important to take seriously the possibilities of him bringing America and the world to its knees.

     

    Being a student of popular culture, it’s important for me to draw parallels and highlight the fictional (I hope so) consequences of the Trump presidency and what it means for us all.

     

    Interestingly, two pieces of fiction spring to mind immediately. The first isThe Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon, published in 1959 which tells the story of a war veteran who is brainwashed into becoming a pawn for the communists. This book was later adapted into two films, the first in 1962 starring Laurence Harvey and Frank Sinatra and the secondin 2004 starring Denzel Washington, Liv Schreiber and Meryl Streep. Many of you may not have read the book or watched the first film but would have likely have watched the 2004 version and if you haven’t, I would urge you to especially as you would find it greatly interesting in light of what’s happening in US politics today.

     

    Interestingly, the 2004 film which is a departure from the book actually tells the story differently. Sergeant First Class, Raymond Shaw comes back from Iraq as a war hero (which was a set up owing to a brainwashing experiment on the entire platoon) and then then works his way up to become a U.S. Representative from New York, then the Vice-Presidential candidate in quick time. He then arranges to have the Presidential nominee assassinated(and take his place) but is foiled by Major Ben Marco (his platoon leader from Iraq, who is also brainwashed but discovers the truth). Raymond Shaw’s meteoric rise is possible owing to his Machiavellian mother, Eleanor Prentiss Shaw, also a U S Senator and her supporters, Manchurian Global, a powerful private equity firm with major political clout and connectionsand who wish to subvert America by planting their stooge as the President. The communist and Russian connection isn’t as direct but is alluded to. The novel has a clearer linkage to communists and Russia (of course owing to the fact that the book was written at the peak of the cold war) but I am sure you get the point especially what’s happening now with the Russian hacking situation in the U S.

     

    The second piece of fiction and one of my favorite novels of all time, Stephen King’s, The Dead Zone, tells the story of Johnny Smith who goes into a five-year long coma after his car is in an accident and then emerges with the abilities of precognition and clairvoyance due to a “dead zone” in a damaged area of his brain. A sort of X-Men like ability. The book essentially goes on to describeJohnny’s quest to stop Greg Stillson, a diabolical and evil business man turned Senator from running for and becoming President. This is all triggered off when Johnny attends a rally for Stillson and on touching his hand has a horrific vision of an older Stillson as President causing massive, worldwide nuclear conflict. In the end, Johnny gives up his own life but manages to destroy Stillson’s political future. If any of you aren’t avid readers, then do watch the 1983 film directed by David Cronenberg and starring Chrostopher Walken and Martin Sheen.

     

    Now doesn’t some of this sound familiar? The character of Greg Stillson so reminds me of Donald Trump and to think that now as President, Trump will have his finger on the button which can trigger of the end of world very quickly horrifies me no end!

     

    These two pieces of fiction are classic examples of “life imitating art” and vice versa and I for one am really wary of what’s to come with the new President. While the world certainly doesn’t need a Greg Stillson in the White House, we don’t need a Manchurian Candidate either. Let’s hope for the future of the world that it doesn’t come down to a choice between these two characters!

     

  • Considering that President Obama had the cards stacked against him and the dominos falling from the get go, it’s a miracle how he not only survived but grew in stature over his eight years and two terms, writes Jaideep Shergill

    Jaideep Shergill: Barack Obama: An officer and a gentleman!

    By Jaideep Shergill

     

    Sorry everyone. I know I was to have packed my bags and moved to Bhutan. Refer to my previous article if you had missed that one! Just as I was about to head out of the door and leave 2016 behind, I chanced upon a Huffington Post article titled “55 Reasons Obama Will Go Down as One of Our Best Presidents”

     

    The reasons go from his scandal-free terms to his winning the Nobel Prize to the capture and end of Osama Bin Laden.

    Now I have heard of the Top 5 or Top 10 of lists, but 55 reasons! That’s like putting Obama next to god himself. I ruminated a bit more and decided to put the Obama legacy in perspective as a non-American looking in from the outside.

    For starters, I for one will really miss him!

    I fondly remember when Obama first ran for President as it was then the first big political campaign launched using the digital/social media and for us communications folks, it meant a big learning and opportunity on how to best use social media. I remember how big it was back then.

    Having since followed nearly all the major and minor commentary about his presidency and devouring everything thrown my way like a classical news junkie, I can only say that my admiration and respect for President Obama has since multiplied manifold.

    One of the first things I want to espouse is the fallacy of the jingoistic propaganda which many countries around the world continue to push and that is the end of the US and rise of other countries. There are of course economic and political reasons for this propaganda but it’s also symptomatic of human kind since the dawn of time. We tend to have a mechanism to self-destruct and also love pulling down those ahead of us. Both of this traits are constant and operate in a Mobius strip like way. However, it’s important for all my friends who push this agenda to remember that in a globalised world, the failure of America means immediate fallouts and ramifications everywhere. Remember 2008-2009?

    The fact is that the stars were already misaligned when Obama came to the White House because the constant pressure from within and outside America, from the losers and jingoists respectively had reached its peak in terms of timing and crescendo in terms of white noise.

    History now shows us that President Obama didn’t even stand a chance when he was sworn in. The Republican “old boys club” had already decided to stop him at every step he took. This was an effect of clear racistbehaviour and the avarice towards Obama in particular. To make matters worse, the markets crashed, the legacy US auto industry nearly became extinct and things just continued to spiral out of control for the then newly sworn in President. Contradicting the rules of engagement of bi-partisan politics, the Republicans in the House and Senate continued to stymie his agenda and blocked everything he tried to do right from the start and every day after.

    While President Obama struggled with these domestic rivals, a bunch of countries started flexing their muscles after being driven on by nationalistic rhetoric that America was too powerful and must be brought down- Russia, China and scores of others lined up to find a way to dent the already worsening situation for Obama. Of course, let’s not forget that while all this was going on radicalisation and terrorism was morphing into an all new and harder to arrest strain of virus.

    Now considering that President Obama had the cards stacked against him and the dominos falling from the get go, it’s a miracle how he not only survived but grew in stature over his eight years and two terms. In fact, he will end his time in office as one of the most popular presidents of the United States of America and he has made countless friends and allies all over the world. And to think he didn’t stand a chance when he came to office.

    So while there are at least 55 (or more) reasons for why Obama will go down as one of the best Presidents of the USA, here’s what made him what he is:

    – A true officer and gentleman, committed to the cause and unwavering in his belief system.

    – Incorruptible, morally upright and scrupulous whilst being apolitical.

    – A genuine friend of the people of his country and the world at large.

    – A man with a great sense of humour and candour.

    – A loving parent and husband.

     

    As they say in America, “they don’t make ’em like that anymore!”

     

    Barack Obama, you will well and truly be missed!

     

  • 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, writes Jaideep Shergill

    Jaideep Shergill: Shaken, not stirred

    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?

     

  • Historically, live entertainment in India (especially with "A" class acts) has been a damp squib, writes Jaideep Shergill

    Jaideep Shergill: Cold shoulder for Coldplay

    By Jaideep Shergill

     

    India is in the grip of a fever. Something so serious and unprecedented that’s its scary. No my friends, I am not talking about Dengue or Chikungunya or any other epidemic. I am talking about the fabled Coldplay concert planned for Mumbai later this year.

     

    The insanity surrounding the lead up to the show puts even Beatlemania to shame. India hasn’t seen anything like this before. It’s startling how the citizenry of India has taken such a liking to a band from England which most of them have only heard of or at best watched on YouTube/television. Propelled by the mass mania which social networks now deliver, the manna from heaven is now being delivered by the quartet who have now become the biggest thing since ‘vada pav’ in Mumbai city.

     

    However, this schizophrenic paranoia began long before Coldplay decided to play the concert. It all started the spark lit by Christopher “Chris” Anthony John Martin, co-founder of the British alternative rock band Coldplay, when he decided (on a sudden whim) to play an impromptu gig at Hauz Khas, Delhi back in July 2015. The grapevine that Chris will come back and play a concert with his band has been the hottest thing on all forms of chatter and has continued to dominate all forms of conversation for over a year. The grapevine and chatter, very quickly thereafter, turned into reality akin to the miracle of wine from water.

     

    Finally, millions of fans were ecstatic with the announcement that Coldplay will grace India in November 2016. After this, the fever reached an all new pitch and things just have been spiraling out of control. Then came all the rumors, that tickets would start at Rs 25,000 a pop and that there were very few fans who would be let in. This stirred up the fire even faster and higher and fans, young and old were tearing they’re hair out to find ways to get their fix. Then came the news that tickets would open for sale at noon on September 15. This time around the tickets were priced starting at Rs 5000 going upto many many thousands. What happened next was insane. There were hundreds of thousands of people trying to book tickets and there were online queues running into hundreds of thousands and the Rs 5000 tickets sold out within minutes and within a couple of hours the whole range of tickets got gobbled up until the availability came down to tickets priced above Rs 50000. Now as a music buff, I have personally travelled to many part of the world and seen musicians and bands way bigger than Coldplay and even taking Cost of Living Index, PPP, GDP or any other economic equivalents, in GBP, USD and Euros, most tickets for the best of shows the world over sell for the equivalent of Rs 5-10 grand per ticket, so isn’t this a bit much??

     

    Of course the rationale being proferred is that it is a charity concert brought to India by the social action platform, Global Citizen. Being dubbed the Global Citizen Festival will see the likes of Jay-Z, Aamir Khan, AR Rahman, Ranveer Singh, Katrina Kaif, Farhan Akhtar, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Arjun Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Arijit Singh, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and Monali Thakur performing for thousands India’s live entertainment starved fans. Of course, Coldplay will headline the concert and are the biggest draw clearly.

     

    Historically, live entertainment in India (especially with “A” class acts) has been a damp squib. A combination of terrible infrastructure, security concerns, insanely high taxes, red tape and bureaucracy and just the sheer apathy of sponsors and marketers to invest and bring the best acts on the planet to our country has been appalling and has ensured that India is most often glossed over when the biggest and best plan their tours year after year. Over the years, there have been very few acts worth calling top flight to have graced the shores of India and so I can well understand the how and why of the mayhem and madness.

     

    However, I still can’t stop questioning the motives of the organisers and why they woud would not have found ways to make the tickets more affordable, manage the process more transparently and make this an exemplary opportunity versus a hotchpotch and unsavory experience for the umpteenth time for fans in our country. I also can’t understand why the Bollywood quotient should be allowed to ride roughshod over the control of pricing more importantly barely leave anytime for Coldplay to perform.

     

    I for one will not be attending the show. At best, I can only offer a cold shoulder for Coldplay!

     

  • Scamming in the world of awards in our business isn't new and has been long for as long as one can remember, rues Jaideep Shergill

    Jaideep Shergill: The Royal Scam

    By Jaideep Shergill

     

    I write this on the heels of an open letter which hit the internet about a leading ad firm scamming a metal at Cannes.

     

    The letter starts with these words: I’d like to start this post with a simple message. This is a personal one, not endorsed by anyone or organisation but me. That said, hear me and make no mistake: Grey Singapore and Grey Global – I will not entertain a pitch, submission or award from any one of you until you return that award that you falsely won for this travesty.

     

    Kudos to Alastair Bullock for calling out this scam. Grey did grudgingly return the Lion, calling it ‘unwarranted, unfair, unrelenting’ criticism.

     

    Scamming in the world of awards in our business isn’t new and has been long for as long as one can remember! Clearly there are more than enough firms and clients who partake in the cheap and gimmicky world of faking campaigns for the sake of metals. What really got to me though was the compunction with which these scams continue year after year with virtually no consequences for anybody. Shouldn’t there be rules around scam campaigns just like there are for everything else? Of course the fraternity was quick to jump to defend their fakeness. Many took to the internet to tell us all how only some rotten apples create scam campaigns while the rest are above board. Totally laughable actually!

     

    Another royal scam was pulled off by the PR Grand Prix winner, “The Organic Effect”a campaign for Co-op in Sweden, entered by Swedish ad agency Forsman & Bodenfors.

     

    The viral video campaign featured a Swedish family that switched to an organic, pesticide-free diet for two weeks, with urine samples taken before and after—showing a reduction of certain pesticide traces in their bodies. But the campaign which has been under a cloud of criticism for a while now because the company did not test for residues from the pesticides used in organic agriculture and just for those used in non-organic products.

     

    Kavin Senapathy, a writer for Forbes, has a great intro which starts with these words: I expose quackery and bust myths on health, food and science and Kavin had this to say in her piece:Most people don’t realize that organic agriculture uses pesticides too, albeit different ones. And the experiment didn’t test for pesticides used in organic agriculture.

     

    This is like assigning a group of people to drink screwdrivers (that’s OJ and vodka for our teetotalers), then having them swap the screwdrivers for rum and cola, and concluding that rum and cola drinks lead to zero vodka levels in the body.

     

    What’s also interesting is that this piece was run on Forbes before the Cannes winners were chosen. Clearly an oversight by the jury or is it just a case of turning a blind eye?

     

    We need many more Alastairs’ and Kavins’ if we need to call out these scams. God bless her and may their tribe increase!

     

    Of course these are only a couple of examples which caught my attention but we would fill volumes with scam campaigns across the world of marketing and communication if one really wanted to.

     

    In all of this, the vast majority of the fraternity enjoyed themselves at Cannes and will do so again next year. I can only tell you one thing, Kavin Senapathy, the folks at Cannes were certainly not on a diet of virgin screwdrivers or any other mock drinks. In fact, they were and will continue to be high and the scamming will live on. The mad rush to be a leader at any cost and live in a world of false glory in our industry only illustrates one thick skinned trait which is best described in the intellectually uncurious words of Alfred E. Neuman- What, me worry?!!

     

    Jaideep Shergill, Co-Founder, Pitchfork Partners Strategic Consulting LLP is a PR and communications veteran and has always been contrarian about most things, drawing extraordinary amounts of irk and ire from industry peers. He can be reached on jaideep.shergill@pitchforkpartners.com