Nostalgia
India produces the best ads in the whole world! Any doubts about that one? Check out the number of awards Indian Ads have won at major international award festivals in the recent years and u will know Im not being parochial or partial..(though it is very much in me to be both when it comes to cricket!).
I did some reminescing to think of the ads that have stuck in my head ever since I started watching TV. Earliest being the Vicco Vajradanti ad that has been showing in cinemas ever since I remember. The trademark jingle is still the same and the same grandfather figure bites into the sugarcane till date. All fans of Indian Tradition (read 'jobless protesters') can take pride that their agitation that some things should not change has succeeded atleast in this aspect. I remember Aamir Khan jumping over veihcles, sliding under shop doors and getting a Pepsi only to find Aishwarya Rai asking him for another one. Strange game that advertising is, one of my other favs is the Aamir series for Coke. A Nepali tourist, a bihari babu kinda guy - did he pull em off or what! The Aish - Hrithik campaign for Coke sucked though.
Pepsi always came up with fun ads, be it with cricketers or filmstars. Particularly good ones were with Shane Warne, Tendlia and Carl Hooper, another one with Tendlia and Azhar. Some with Shahrukh were good too. Fevicol - or should that be Pidilite - had some of the best ads of all time. Stuff like a man's shadow getting stuck to a shutter with Fevicol written over it, a hen laying an unbreakable egg after eating its feed from a Fevicol can and one where different TV sets in a carpenter store show different pics based on whether or not the Fevicol can is removed from the set top were howlarious to put it mildly. There is another one where they show us an overloaded bus with people on top, on the side and every other possible place on the bus and still not falling off - Fevicol is painted behind the bus in huge letters u see!
Amrutanjan had one amazing catch line - It's gone - and it made people say it in all different languages. I would wait until they said it in my mother tongue and feel suffused with pride that they felt it important enough to use my mother tongue in a national ad.
After spending two years in the US and baulking at their quality of advertising, which was mostly someone reading out product benefits, the belief that we make the world's best ads has been reinforced ten fold. I've loved Motorola's ads for its new phn, Pepsi seems to have lost some touch though. I will surely write upon this some other time as Im fascinated by the world of ads...enuf for now though.
PS: After all the questions, Sehwag is going to be on the plane to the Carribean...Please, oh please, vindicate our faith in you, Sehwag saab...
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Where to now???
How did we manage to lose that? Blame it on Tendlia of course...Naaa, this is not going to be another lambasting for the Tendlia critics. Im curious as to what the selectors will do now. Sehwag has failed(?) yet again. What now? Do we get him onto the plane to the Carribean? Robin Uthappa seems quite a wise choice as of now, but does he have enuf exposure or experience? I dont envy Mr. Vengsarkar's his job, darned if he does, darned if he does not. Two more matches left, Sehwag will have to do something spectacular now if he wants that coveted birth.
There was another match today that could well prove extremely important in the buildup to the World Cup. England upset Australia's applecart today and Australia did not do themselves any favors by putting in a listless batting performance. There have been questions for long about Australia's aging team. However, the desire for revenge for their Ashes loss seemed to fill the aging team with new strength and the 5-0 whitewash showed they were in top form. The first few matches of the CB series proved mere confirmations of their form. However, England, who were on the verge of being written off completely, quite literally pulled a few rabbits out of their hats and romped home to a series victory that will go a long way in boosting their morale ahead of the world cup and shattering Australia's. The good news for Australia is that they still have three matches against NZ to redeem themselves. The one catch taken by Jamie Dalrymple today is utterly representative of how one performance can inspire an entire team. Being horizontal four feet in the air and taking a one handed catch with your left hand - or rather beleiving u can do it - showed England's desperation for a much needed win. The crowd went up in a collective gasp loud enuf to be heard in England when the catch was replayed on the large screen. I would think that was the moment when the fight in Australia just died out!
The build up to this World Cup is proving to be uber interesting and I, for one, hope that every match in the World Cup proves to be a nail biter. Who will win finally? Well, may the best team win...
PS: The best team being India of course!
How did we manage to lose that? Blame it on Tendlia of course...Naaa, this is not going to be another lambasting for the Tendlia critics. Im curious as to what the selectors will do now. Sehwag has failed(?) yet again. What now? Do we get him onto the plane to the Carribean? Robin Uthappa seems quite a wise choice as of now, but does he have enuf exposure or experience? I dont envy Mr. Vengsarkar's his job, darned if he does, darned if he does not. Two more matches left, Sehwag will have to do something spectacular now if he wants that coveted birth.
There was another match today that could well prove extremely important in the buildup to the World Cup. England upset Australia's applecart today and Australia did not do themselves any favors by putting in a listless batting performance. There have been questions for long about Australia's aging team. However, the desire for revenge for their Ashes loss seemed to fill the aging team with new strength and the 5-0 whitewash showed they were in top form. The first few matches of the CB series proved mere confirmations of their form. However, England, who were on the verge of being written off completely, quite literally pulled a few rabbits out of their hats and romped home to a series victory that will go a long way in boosting their morale ahead of the world cup and shattering Australia's. The good news for Australia is that they still have three matches against NZ to redeem themselves. The one catch taken by Jamie Dalrymple today is utterly representative of how one performance can inspire an entire team. Being horizontal four feet in the air and taking a one handed catch with your left hand - or rather beleiving u can do it - showed England's desperation for a much needed win. The crowd went up in a collective gasp loud enuf to be heard in England when the catch was replayed on the large screen. I would think that was the moment when the fight in Australia just died out!
The build up to this World Cup is proving to be uber interesting and I, for one, hope that every match in the World Cup proves to be a nail biter. Who will win finally? Well, may the best team win...
PS: The best team being India of course!
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Sachin on Song
There is little that matches the unrivalled joy of watching a Sachin Tendulkar straight drive. It was during Operation Desert Storm in Sharjah once upon a time that Tendulkar straight drove Steve Waugh right over his head for six and held that pose just long enough for it to be imprinted in the minds of millions for eternity. If one keeps following all the bad press that Tendulkar gets for his (human) failings in some of the innings he plays, one would be conned into thinking that all that was in a different lifetime. In this life, Tendulkar is just another mortal who can never score when it matters, nor can he ever 'win a match for India' or so they want us to beleive.
Right after his drop to the middle order in the recently concluded series against WI, Tendulkar missed out on the run fest during his 30 in the first innings. He played like he has being doing in the recent past, more of an accumulator than an aggressor. Out came the hounds baying for his blood. There came the questions - Is Tendulkar past his prime? Should he quit while on top? Should he try and prolong his test career by moving away from the one day field. The fact that he played beautifully for his 30 and scored these runs at a run a ball mattered little to these pundits. His 60 in the third match did not matter too as he fell 'when it mattered'. In an interview before the final match, he said something to the effect that he knows what role he has been asked to play and that he is doing it to perfection. Then came the explosion in the final match. Tendlia was back to his old self, impeccable shots flowing from the meat of the bat, delicate angles finding gaps that others would be hard pressed to find and domination of the bowlers at will, all these qualities that made him the Little Maestro were back in full force and it was a sight to watch.
The purpose of this post is to tell the blood hounds that they can shove it for a while. Is it Tendulkar's fault that his last four centuries for India came in losing causes. If it really were the case that a Tendulkar century would lead to an Indian defeat, it will be Tendulkar himself who would step down. For the boyish enthusiasm he has and the infectious smile that creases his face when India wins cannot be fake, cannot be the work of someone who is selfishly prodding along for individual glory. Let him be...he is irreplaceable in this Indian Team and the day when he retires....aaaaahhhhh, lets cross that bridge when we come to it, it is too painful a thought as of now...
There is little that matches the unrivalled joy of watching a Sachin Tendulkar straight drive. It was during Operation Desert Storm in Sharjah once upon a time that Tendulkar straight drove Steve Waugh right over his head for six and held that pose just long enough for it to be imprinted in the minds of millions for eternity. If one keeps following all the bad press that Tendulkar gets for his (human) failings in some of the innings he plays, one would be conned into thinking that all that was in a different lifetime. In this life, Tendulkar is just another mortal who can never score when it matters, nor can he ever 'win a match for India' or so they want us to beleive.
Right after his drop to the middle order in the recently concluded series against WI, Tendulkar missed out on the run fest during his 30 in the first innings. He played like he has being doing in the recent past, more of an accumulator than an aggressor. Out came the hounds baying for his blood. There came the questions - Is Tendulkar past his prime? Should he quit while on top? Should he try and prolong his test career by moving away from the one day field. The fact that he played beautifully for his 30 and scored these runs at a run a ball mattered little to these pundits. His 60 in the third match did not matter too as he fell 'when it mattered'. In an interview before the final match, he said something to the effect that he knows what role he has been asked to play and that he is doing it to perfection. Then came the explosion in the final match. Tendlia was back to his old self, impeccable shots flowing from the meat of the bat, delicate angles finding gaps that others would be hard pressed to find and domination of the bowlers at will, all these qualities that made him the Little Maestro were back in full force and it was a sight to watch.
The purpose of this post is to tell the blood hounds that they can shove it for a while. Is it Tendulkar's fault that his last four centuries for India came in losing causes. If it really were the case that a Tendulkar century would lead to an Indian defeat, it will be Tendulkar himself who would step down. For the boyish enthusiasm he has and the infectious smile that creases his face when India wins cannot be fake, cannot be the work of someone who is selfishly prodding along for individual glory. Let him be...he is irreplaceable in this Indian Team and the day when he retires....aaaaahhhhh, lets cross that bridge when we come to it, it is too painful a thought as of now...
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