How advertisements mould and sway public opinion

12 March, 2012

A personal yet deliberate take on the advertisement industry or the ad-world. The enchanting and..

TODAY WE live in a society where advertisements play havoc on our imagination every waking second though most of the times; we are oblivious of this slow internal damage. I rightfully count myself among the innumerable victims of this merciless assault on human minds. The effect sometimes is so overwhelming that some of us begin to question our existence without that particular product. (This is on a lighter note of course!). It must be evident by now that I am referring to the ideas and concepts that are involved while creating a commercial.

It would be an attempt on my part to fly in the face of facts if I were to claim that advertisements only served the purpose of spinning money. There are many commercials that make one sit up and take notice. These advertisements not only get the silent approval of the consumer but they also make one believe in ‘wish-full thinking’. The picture that nothing is unattainable or impossible is presented through these advertisements, the determination to hope against hope. Secondly the corporate houses involved know their job well. They know the art of identifying and capitalizing on the thought process of their target audience.

Certain advertisements that I do not have any qualms watching repeatedly are:

1) Incredible India advertisements starring Aamir Khan.

2) Tata Tea advertisements that are mostly centred on changing the society and bringing about an overhaul in the mindsets of the people.

3) Tata Docomo advertisements starring Ranbir Kapoor.

4) Tata Sky advertisements starring Aamir Khan.

5) Virgin mobile advertisements that are youth centric and humorous in nature.

6) Certain advertisements about life insurance policies and other banking schemes.

On the other hand there are certain advertisements that make a mockery of the actors, enacting the commercial as well as the product. Commercials that have irritated me alike whenever I have switched on the television;

1) Gillette shaving cream and razor that try to prove a point over and over again that clean shaven men always impress women, under all circumstances. This is the essence of true manliness and machismo.

2) Fair and Handsome fairness cream commercial is about how an individual in his desperate bid to look fair starts using a fairness cream, meant exclusively for women. SRK catches him ‘red handed’ and explains that ‘real men’ should only use a fairness cream meant for their skin.

3) Thums Up commercials where Akshay Kumar performs dangerous stunts like jumping from roof tops, speeding vehicles etc only to lay his hands on a bottle of soft drink. Whereas walking into a shop and buying himself one would be a much safer option.

4) My personal favorite – ‘the Axe effect’. I have miserably failed to understand the logic behind this one so far. Women are portrayed as mere animals ready to pounce on any random man. Why? He just sprayed Axe all over himself.

5) We all know that Katrina Kaif, Shilpa Shetty and Aishwarya Rai Bachan have their personal hair care and beauty technicians/experts/stylists, then why lie to women across the country that by using a certain brand of beauty product makes a woman’s hair strong, silky or shiny, her skin flawless and all that jazz. Most of us know by now that nothing miraculous happens even if one were to use such products for an entire lifetime.

Well….practically writing, this list is way too long for me to accommodate. However, let me just stop being a cynic for a while. On the brighter side, advertisements today don’t undermine but accelerate our thought process.

What’s to life without the bizarre, wild and colorful imagination skills that human beings possess? What say folks?!