Field Notes from the Self - Fragments, feelings, and the quiet courage to look within.

Sigappu lolakku kulungudhu kulungudhu..... He: Wow! These earrings are nice. She: Why shouldn't they be? They are a gift He: A gift? But I didn't get you any earrings? She: When did I say you got them? He: Then who? She: As if there can't be anyone else is my life except you! He: Tell me, who? (pleads) She: Your son! (ha ha ha, fades into the background) Narrator: Now, you can buy whatever you want with the savings that your infant baby can make for you. For, a set of two diapers costs just Rs.15. This is a radio ad made by the largest consumer product company that claims to have fully understood the consumer, and can strike an emotional cord with the audience. The same guys who (i) made the little boy feel inadequate because his toothpaste had 2 less so-called-good-properties than their product, (ii) made all the girls in India feel that brown is unattractive, and being fair is the only way to self-confidence, a great career, and obviously a handsome boyfriend, (iii) made ...

Taglines of advertisements fall into many categories: many of them fall by the wayside, some of them stand the test of time, some of them go on to join their superior counterparts are age old adages. The cola wars used to create some of the best tag lines - Nothing official about it, yahi right choice baby aha!, yeh dil maange more and so on. Now it is the age of insurance companies vying with each other to create senti pitches that a strike an emotional chord with the viewers. The Sar Uthake Jiyo series of ads is quite nice. So are the Be life confident ads of the little son adding letters to his name while his proud father watches on, or the one in which the new father jumps with joy on knowing that he's had twins. For that matter, even the zindagi ke saath bhi, zindagi ke baad bhi ain't so bad, even though the ads are. I am not sure how effective these ads are in translating into incremental revenues, because I can hardly identify these taglines with the brands themselves....