Wag the Tree
India is a big country, and many things happen. This is about some of them.
Tuesday, October 05, 2004
Wasting both halves
John Wanamaker once said, “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half.” Well, as far as political advertising in India is concerned, both halves are wasted.
In any political campaign, most of the voters decide well in advance who they will vote for. The parties, therefore, essentially spend their time wooing a small percentage of undecided voters. Any political advertising from them, thus, should have one or both of two objectives: to sway the swing voters over to their side, and to mobilise those voters on their side to actually go out and vote.
There is a political advertisement by the Congress alliance in Maharashtra in both the Indian Express and The Times of India that carries big photographs of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, and alongside them, one quote from each: “Garibi Hatao” from Indira, and “Get ready for the 21st century” from Rajiv. Below that is a slogan, in all-caps, “Now let us fulfill their dreams”.
This might, though I doubt it, make people who are already Congress supporters feel warm and fuzzy about their allegiance, but I can’t see what this tired recycling of cynical cliches does to convert the undecided voter. No talk of policy, no talk of governance, and not even any promises (not that they would keep them). It is advertising for the sake of advertising, like we’ve had government for the sake of government through all these decades. India has gradually been moving away from its failed Nehruvian legacy over the last few years – but the advertising wing of the Congress party still seems stuck in the 1970s.
In any political campaign, most of the voters decide well in advance who they will vote for. The parties, therefore, essentially spend their time wooing a small percentage of undecided voters. Any political advertising from them, thus, should have one or both of two objectives: to sway the swing voters over to their side, and to mobilise those voters on their side to actually go out and vote.
There is a political advertisement by the Congress alliance in Maharashtra in both the Indian Express and The Times of India that carries big photographs of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, and alongside them, one quote from each: “Garibi Hatao” from Indira, and “Get ready for the 21st century” from Rajiv. Below that is a slogan, in all-caps, “Now let us fulfill their dreams”.
This might, though I doubt it, make people who are already Congress supporters feel warm and fuzzy about their allegiance, but I can’t see what this tired recycling of cynical cliches does to convert the undecided voter. No talk of policy, no talk of governance, and not even any promises (not that they would keep them). It is advertising for the sake of advertising, like we’ve had government for the sake of government through all these decades. India has gradually been moving away from its failed Nehruvian legacy over the last few years – but the advertising wing of the Congress party still seems stuck in the 1970s.
Falling into a drum, and other memorable moments
Every day in the Bombay Times there are more and more revelations. In Straight Answers today, they interviewed the actress (or actor?) Rambha, and the headlined quote was, “One moment I was dancing, the other I had fallen into a drum.” No symbolism here, the drum actually was a drum, a giant one that she had been dancing on for a song. “The surface of the drum just cracked,” she said. “The crew didn’t know where I had disappeared! It was dark inside the drum and I wondered where I had landed!”
What were the options that went through her mind, I wonder.
She ended the interview by saying, “Recently I got lost in a mall in New Zealand. My life is full of such memorable moments.”
And ours too, thanks to BT.
What were the options that went through her mind, I wonder.
She ended the interview by saying, “Recently I got lost in a mall in New Zealand. My life is full of such memorable moments.”
And ours too, thanks to BT.
Monday, October 04, 2004
India ****ing
The latest issue of Outlook (Oct 11, 2004) has a dramatic cover story titled, “Sex and your child”. It begins with some startling information: apparently, 62% of Delhi boys think a girl can’t become pregnant if she has sex only once. And 77% of Delhi boys believe babies are born through a mother’s navel or stomach. And so on.
The basis of the Outlook story is a poll carried out by an agency called Synovate, of boys and girls in the four metros between the ages of 13 and 17. I flipped through some of the tables they carried, and the one that caught my roving eye was one that showed the responses to the question, “Have you had any sexual experience so far?”
In Delhi, 55% of the boys answered yes, as compared to just 17% of the girls. In Mumbai, 12% of the boys answered yes, and 26% of the girls. This can lead to a number of disturbing conclusions: one, most of the girls in Delhi who, ahem, do it have multiple partners, unless all the surplus boys (38%), ahem, get their rocks off with ladies outside the sampled demographic – ie, prostitutes and older women. In Mumbai, on the other hand, the boys seem rather timid, though the 12% who do manage to, ahem, have sex, probably have multiple partners, unless the surplus girls (14%), ahem, get into bed with older men.
These figures are not worrying from a moralistic point of view, but from a journalistic one. The methodology states that the total sample base, encompassing all four metros, contained 310 respondents. That’s 77.5 per city, on average, 38.75 of each sex. This is a ridiculous sample size, and to draw any kind of conclusion from this is foolhardy. And to flaunt those conclusions on the cover of a national newsmagazine is irresponsible. Outlook does sensationalism very well, but I have always thought of the men who run the show there as being journalists with integrity, and gimmicks like this are unnecessary. The thrust of their story was about the inadequate sex education in Indian schools, which was meaty enough. But the sizzle spoilt the sausage.
And I hate euphemisms for, ahem, …
The basis of the Outlook story is a poll carried out by an agency called Synovate, of boys and girls in the four metros between the ages of 13 and 17. I flipped through some of the tables they carried, and the one that caught my roving eye was one that showed the responses to the question, “Have you had any sexual experience so far?”
In Delhi, 55% of the boys answered yes, as compared to just 17% of the girls. In Mumbai, 12% of the boys answered yes, and 26% of the girls. This can lead to a number of disturbing conclusions: one, most of the girls in Delhi who, ahem, do it have multiple partners, unless all the surplus boys (38%), ahem, get their rocks off with ladies outside the sampled demographic – ie, prostitutes and older women. In Mumbai, on the other hand, the boys seem rather timid, though the 12% who do manage to, ahem, have sex, probably have multiple partners, unless the surplus girls (14%), ahem, get into bed with older men.
These figures are not worrying from a moralistic point of view, but from a journalistic one. The methodology states that the total sample base, encompassing all four metros, contained 310 respondents. That’s 77.5 per city, on average, 38.75 of each sex. This is a ridiculous sample size, and to draw any kind of conclusion from this is foolhardy. And to flaunt those conclusions on the cover of a national newsmagazine is irresponsible. Outlook does sensationalism very well, but I have always thought of the men who run the show there as being journalists with integrity, and gimmicks like this are unnecessary. The thrust of their story was about the inadequate sex education in Indian schools, which was meaty enough. But the sizzle spoilt the sausage.
And I hate euphemisms for, ahem, …
