wIs it about the men’s underwear that fascinates Indians so much?
Perhaps, we should be asking this question to Rupa, Macho, Lux Cozy, Dollar, Amul Comfy, Bigboss – all of which have flooded the screens with TV commercials of men modeling their clothes. And, mind you, these are not men, they are movie stars. Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar and Vicky Kaushal – you might have heard of them?
Watching TV commercials can be so instructive. Here’s a cultural phenomenon worthy of French philosopher Roland Barthes.
In these ads, the men either look cool—Ranbir Kapoor in the Roopa vest ads—or do their best to look sexy for the benefit of the woman who is shown lusting after… not them, but her underwear To. Look at the macho ads with Vicky Kaushal or the woman hugging Lux Cozy and singing, “this is my crazy drink,
Why male film stars need to be sold tights And Banyan,
Possibly because the ads appeal to the ‘female gaze’ – presumably, they buy underwear for the men in their lives as much as the men do for themselves. How’s that for amateur psychology?
Interestingly, men can’t take their eyes off women’s undergarments- although there are a few TVCs for them, they are rare and quite attractive.
Women and men who don’t like male underwear should put up with sleek, curvy beauties on four wheels: cars. Skoda, Tiago, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Jeep and Renault are on the road, doing all kinds of tricks to drive them crazy.
Another sociological phenomenon: previously, vehicles were adorned by female models to attract the male gaze. It ends up being a small victory for the gender neutrality of cars.
If there are cars, there must be tyres, right? That’s why television is full of tire commercials; Apollo, MRF and SEAT are the three most popular brands on TV.
By the way, film stars don’t sell tyres, cricketers do, so please welcome Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. What do they have to do with tyres?
you tell me.
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Home improvement
Next question: What is Jindal Panther TMT, one of the main sponsors of Tata IPL 2023? What we saw in their advertisement – a new variant of the said four-legged animal or Hardik Pandya’s gym workout. Incorrect: It is a steel bar or rod used in construction work. Pandya is there to showcase his resilience (like his and Panther’s). And he just walks around the cricket field, eh?
Bars, Rods and Wire have become the most unexpected TV ad stars – V Guard is hot, hot, hot these days. Just goes to show that you can promote anything, especially if you tag a celebrity. Among the many products Virat Kohli is selling these days – sometimes with his IPL team Royal Challengers Bangalore – KE cables and wires.
It deals in American Tourister accessories, Hindware sanitary fittings, Blue Star AC (summer vacation) even more. What about his wife Anushka Sharma, you ask? She appears in Godrej’s hair color ad.
Wires, cables, steel girders and bars are leading us to… a home for Mr. and Mrs. India. This means that there are TVCs for cement like Ambuja Cement. But more than that, there appears to be a craze for house paint—there’s Ranbir Kapoor for Berger Paints and Mahendra Singh Dhoni for Indigo Paints (he also sells ceiling fans). There’s Nerolac and Asian Paints—remember that Deepika Padukone one where her director thinks her wall looks better than hers?
With all this hardware being sold on TV, advertisers clearly believe that home is where the wallet is for consumers. This is the best explanation why Aashirwad TV ad is not for jewellery, mint cardamom, wheat flour or wedding items but for a water tank.
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a victory for the nation
While there are many advertisements for coolers and air conditioners and soft drinks due to the heat, the personal care and cosmetics department has seen better days. Some are soaps and deodorants, Denver ‘perfume’ endorsed by actor Varun Dhawan and ‘Raymonds’ for the ‘perfect man’.
But all those fairness creams? They have disappeared. Once upon a time, he was whitening the skin of actors like Shahrukh Khan. Now, Kaput. It’s a huge win: The ad campaign and products were a blot on the face of the nation, no less — they support and promote the idea that fair is beautiful.
The exception is Patanjali, where the ubiquitous Ramdev regularly sells his ‘aloe vera’ cream in the air.
Now if only we could see less of Kamla Pasand (‘unique taste‘) and other surrogate pan masala products brought to you by top male Bollywood stars: Amitabh Bachchan (we’ll get back to him), Ranveer Singh, Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn. These ads appear alongside everything from the Indian Premier League to news and entertainment channels. Whatever the ingredients – sweet cardamom for example – the packaging is that of pan masala, so no point in trying to fool us.
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top-build advertising stars
Who is the highest selling TV commercial star?
This one between Ranveer Singh and Amitabh Bachchan is for all ages and all products.
Both the actors sell whatever comes their way. For Bachchan, it could be detergent, jewelery or Muthoot Finance. For Ranveer Singh, it’s AC (Lloyd with Deepika Padukone), online travel (MakeMyTrip with Alia Bhatt) and Pepsi. and many more.
Virat Kohli is with him during IPL time. For female ad stars, it is probably Alia Bhatt. Viewers have been seeing a lot of her—in Frooti commercials, Make My Trip, and Rungta TVC with Ranbir Kapoor.
The last words are reserved for the Indians and their digestive systems. It’s their prized possession—no wonder many products are advertised to help them digest and eliminate: Hajmola, Eno, Gas-O-Fast or Softovac.
The author tweets at @shailajabajpai. Thoughts are personal.
(Editing by Therese Sudip)