Ok, no ‘vs’ in the title there. I am not doing a comparison anyway. It isn’t fair to compare two bikes with completely different displacements.
Just a few months back, when I was looking for an affordable bike to buy, the options were limited – I could only narrow down to the Ninja 250 and the CBR 250R. I somehow found the look of the Ninja 250 quite dated, and cludgy. The CBR in comparison looked sleek and new. (partly because it was).
The CBR 250R promo video was also pretty well made,
I hadn’t seen anything on the Ninja 250R, but found this ok, but not-so-great video,
Now, Kawasaki announced the Ninja 300 just a few months back, and although I might have wanted to go for it, I couldn’t wait, and went in for the Honda CBR 250R instead. I am pretty happy with the CBR 250R – would have just preferred the Ninja 300.
The Ninja 300 promo video is mind-blowing,
Just a few days back, Honda announced a few new bikes – of which I found the CBR500R the most appealing. However, the promo video is a complete let down. It feels like it’s a video from the 90’s. Two decades back.
YAWN!!
This other video is slightly better,
Of course, this post has nothing to do with the merits of the bikes themselves. 😀
On a closing note, the Pulsar 220 ad still seems to best all of these. The bike itself looks a little puny when you look at it now. 🙂
Apparently, Times of India launched an attack on ‘The Hindu’ with it’s ‘Put’s you to sleep’ campaign. I am not currently in India (I am just stating that matter-of-factly. No ‘Peter’ there.), and hence hadn’t seen the campaign. I don’t know how popular of an ad(vert)(isement) it was, considering, I did not see it do any rounds on Facebook. See, these days, if something is mainstream, and worth sharing, more often than not, it ends up being shared on Facebook.
So, then apparently, in something uncharacteristic of it’s own self, and to the surprise of many, shock of some, and dismay of quite a few (‘The Hindu’ loyalists specifically.), ‘The Hindu’ launched a counter-offensive. Now, if sharing on Facebook is anything to go by, this campaign has been hugely successful. Only after this came out, did i even have the curiosity to find out how TOI had wronged ‘The Hindu’.
This is the ad that I found on YouTube,
Times of India readers may skip the following discussions, and head straight to the videos, and are advised to look at related videos on YouTube instead of reading the ensuing discussion. That should keep you occupied for a while.
Maybe, we should take a closer look at what the ad is trying to convey,
Someone is declaring a building open.
A local sports team (no points for guessing Cricket), is posing for a photo with a Shield.
Random wrestlers are shown.
There is some sort of a rally. (I am assuming)
Free TV’s are being given away.
There is a police/RSS morning drill.
Somebody declares open a factory.
Water problem is shown, with people waiting near a water lorry.
(*Not an exhaustive list, I am afraid)
And then they say, ‘Stuck with News that puts you to sleep‘ ?, followed by brisk music, followed by ‘Wake up to the Times of India‘
In all these a person wearing a half-shirt, and dhoti is shown sleeping. Now, I am not sure if it is supposed to be the reporter, or the reader that’s shown sleeping. First things first, are they claiming that ‘The Hindu’ is reporting on dead and boring issues like the ones mentioned above ? If yes, then how on earth could the reporter be sleeping ? If it’s the reader they are talking about, it takes some imagination I tell you – which makes one wonder – ‘Will TOI readers even get the implied meaning ?’
Secondly, if TOI claims that these are boring things to be reading about, then they have clearly made a gross mistake with that kind of a portrayal. Why would a local team winning a shield be unimportant ? Have you seen the crowds ‘Manchester United’ or ‘FC Barcelona’ attract when they play local club games ? Here in the US, the university I attend, (or for that matter any University) is crazy about the university team. So, why would it be so wrong to publish news about the community you live in ? Why would political rallies, and giving away of free TV’s be unimportant ? After all, India is going to the dogs because of it’s poor state of politics, and as a tax payer, I was very much concerned and worried even, when freebies were being given away as part of the election campaign. Are these issues unimportant ? While declaring open of factories and buildings might not be the most interesting pieces of articles, think about the employment that the factory might generate in the local community, and it certainly becomes news worthy.
Keeping the above in mind, I think it is only fair that, ‘The Hindu’ launched a counter offensive. And, did they launch a good one at that. The first advertisement that I saw, was quite remarkable, and as I was telling a friend of mine, the only question to which I did not know the answer was the last one. Not surprising, I think. 🙂 Anyway, here are the links,
This one was by far the best (IMHO), and looked very natural,
A couple of chinks in the armor though,
By explicitly stating that so many people read a competing news-paper, ‘The Hindu’ is kinda shooting itself in its own foot. Especially considering, it is mostly the younger generation almost seems like they are admitting to being boring. Well, I am young, and I don’t think it’s boring, but still,….
Couple of other things struck me, as odd – some of the answers definitely did not seem natural – especially in one of the later ad’s. Where someone is asked which band Paul McCartney was associated with – believe me, if someone knows of ‘The Doors’, they in all likelihood know about ‘The Beatles’
I couldn’t help but notice that girls, were portrayed slightly dumber than the guys. Well, they are all being portrayed as lacking vital knowledge, but still, I felt that it was a tad against the lassies.
All said and done, I consider ‘The Hindu‘ to be a much better newspaper than. ‘The Times of India’. So much so, that I did not even want to use the names of the two newspapers in the same sentence there. (If you noticed. ;)) While, I was back in India, we always bought ‘The Hindu’ in our house. Occasionally, ‘The Indian Express’ as well. On Sundays, sometimes my dad would also get the ‘Sunday Times’, and that had pages and pages of celebrity gossip and all the other ‘light’ news items – enough to last us a week. 😀 I can’t imagine reading that daily.
P.S: The writer (yes, that would be me) has always taken a strong stand on good and serious journalism. If someone’s purpose is to entertain, rather than inform, then maybe they should try out being a VJ or a reality show host. (no dearth of those things these days) By insisting that you are a serious journalist, you are kidding yourself, and putting other journalists to shame.
DISCLAIMER: This post is not meant to be taken seriously. The author suggests taking it in a lighter vein. (No, not intravenous drugs. I am against drugs!! ) The post is also best taken with a pinch of humor (or snuff if you actually are in the habit. No wait, that is disgusting too!! ) The characters and themes appearing in this post are “absolut-ly” “triple distilled” fictional and any relation with beings either living, dead or brain dead is coincidental. (Yeah, right!!)Â If you can think a better title, you are most welcome. For people of the opinion that I try too hard, you don’t know yet. (wink)
An interview with Vrakash Parma, who directed the commercials of SuSus for MO6 and the creators themselves.
Mr Parma, first things first. How did you get such a creative name for the characters ?
That’s something you will have to ask the creators. They are the creative ones. I just shoot.
( At least you shoot straight.) So let’s talk to the creators now. Mr. KamKaro Jao , How did you think of such a name ? I must confess, lots of my friends, me included are enthralled.
Well, as a kid, I used to go to the Jijamata Udyan Zoo very often. It is only natural … Oh wait a minute, wait a minute, why am I explaining about a zoo ? It’s actually because the people wearing these costumes had a difficult time getting out of it when you know, (ahem) nature calls. (Sheepish smile) Hence Susus. If you are wondering why not another rhyming word, then it boils down (ha ha ha) to the frequency really.
Oh (coughs..), naturally. And very clever. Care to tell us about the concept ?
It’s very simple really. I was sitting in my bedroom one fine afternoon, wondering “Why, these days everyone is into animation so much. In a way animated characters were stealing the charisma of humans. Hence I got to thinking, why not make an animation like advertisement with humans in it, instead ?
Wow!! That’s simply won-der-ful. Creativity at it’s peak. Are you sure you didn’t rip it off Bybendum ?
By Ben who ?
Not Ben. The Michellin Man!!Or, wait was it the mummies ?
Michelle in what ? And whose Mum ? Surely, I have heard of no such thing. You got to be donuts if you are accusing me. I am always one revolution ahead!!
Ya, Right!! So what’s this new branch of ad-making going to be called ? Surely, there will be others who will copy you. This is India afterall.
Oh, I haven’t given it any thought really. But yes, now you bring it up, we Indians will copy it anyway. And keep copying it till everyone is bored of it. I think people will think of a title eventually.
Back to Mr. Parma. Ok, so tell us, Mr. Parma What were the challenges you faced ?
The material was a big challenge. I mean we were initially just using a white sheet. But then someone notices that one, the sheets wrinkled a lot and two, instead of looking like cute creatures, these were now looking more like banshees.
So, you found an alternative we hear ?
Yes, we tried this material called “perspirex”, but that just made people sweat a lot. As a result of which there were no nature calls, and we couldn’t call these things susus any longer. That would have been a collapse of the entire concept. We couldn’t let that happen.
Oh, so ?
Well, this one guy who writes wise ass posts in his blog, gave us this suggestion and I must confess it’s wonderful and simple. Coming to think of it, I should have thought of it myself.
Uh-huh ? What is this suggestion ?
Toilet paper!! We just had to roll this person in toilet paper. And nature calls were no longer a problem. We just had to remove some portion of the covering (which was useful for other things) and cover em back once the business was done. Jolly good, I say.
Everywhere you see these days, be it on television, be it on newspapers, be it on the Internet, you find “ZooZoos”. They don’t even spare your official e-mail id. People even in your office flood it with forward after forward about “Zoozoos”!!
Personally I don’t get what’s the big deal with it anyway. I mean I know there is a huge fan following for these commercials. People who go all “How cuteeee” and become 5 year olds again. I am sure there is at least one person reading this post who unconsciously smiles every time a Zoozoo advertisement is played on TV. (At least till you read this. Sorry, if I make you conscious the next time.)
To me, these are just annoying advertisements. I mean, I know its cute!!!…. and all, but if you sit back and think (maybe over a cold beer), what does that advertisement mean really ? How does it in anyway concern Vodafone or what service they offer ? The link is rather thin.vI mean there are these (not)-animated characters on screen making weird and annoying sounds/noises/grunts. I am not taking anything away from the ad-maker, though. I mean nice concept and all. But it could have been put to better use. Something more meaningful perhaps ?
If that title made little or no sense to you, it’s actually fine. It didn’t make sense to me either. It should probably have been “Bajaj Looking at Success through Commercial Transformation” 🙂 I know it sounds that way, but it’s not a press release on how Bajaj (auto) is going to expand in the current Indian market or anything on those lines either. It has absolutely nothing to do with Tata Nano.
If you have watched a little television of late, and are not the kind that has remote in one hand and potato chips (could even be pizza) in another, and keeps switching channels whenever commercials pop up, then you should have seen the new Bajaj DTSi commercial. Keeping in line with their earlier commercials like Pulsar Mania , they have come up with an advertisement that is truly stunning. However, I kept wondering how these guys used the Transformers concept. I don’t really know if the advertisement firm that came up with this ad got some kind of a permission with Hashbro, but if they didn’t, then I’d say its stealing an idea really. But who knows, maybe they did, or maybe it’s not any violation after all. I wouldn’t know the legalities. All said and done, the ad rocks.
Here’s the video:
According to the person who posted the video on youtube, it is created by Leo Burnett India & directed by Tarsem. Leo Burnett’s site is pretty cool in itself. Worth checking out.
P.S: If you haven’t seen the ad, I suggest you do. If you have seen the ad and still don’t get what transformation I am talking about, you should seriously consider watching this movie.
Now look at the numbers. A football team is comprised of 11 members. Right ? And your normal car can seat how many ? 4 fully grown people (Children and dwarfs are not incuded), 5 at the most including the driver. This car seats an entire football team and Saif Ali Khan of course. That makes it 12. Now, sources close to the organisers of Limca book of records tell me that this is indeed a new record.
Here’s proof:
If you haven’t seen the video and are wondering what on thunder this is, here’s the video so that you can see this feat with your own eyes. Also, you will find a very original unveiling at the end of it which is unprecedented in the world of advertisement. They might just get another award for that.
This advertisement is really funny. First we have this guy making fun of Ranbir Kapoor in Saawariya (which is a movie one should never watch in his/her lifetime. Hence it deserves all the ridicule one can manage to make of it) The matrix impersonation with a stuffed toy is lame. However the end Dard-E-Disco is again funny. This time over, they poke fun at Shah Rukh Khan and his movie Om Shanti Om. Worth a watch.
BIGFlix is owned by Anil Ambani. So yet another Reliance product. Big Bucks or Big flicks ? Who cares, we have p2p. 🙂
A While back, I wrote on Worst Advertisements on TV. I was too lazy to find out some videos the other day. Seems like the Coke advertisement has been around for a while. Here it is:
The background score is different in the TV commercial. The current TV commercial also edits out certain parts of this commercial. But, how lame does it look ? If they expect is to swing the bottle over our heads the next time before having Coca Cola, let me assure you, I ain’t having any.
Actually, when it comes to India, Pepsi has always made more innovative advertisements compared to Coca Cola. Coca Cola comes up with the lamest of advertisements.
Vodafone makes some good advertisements and some bad advertisements. The worst Vodafone advertisements however are the ones that have Irfan Khan in them. If there is one person who puts Indian Newsreadres’ intellect to shame, it has to be this guy.
Now, The advertisement I am talking about is not yet available on You tube. It’s the one that talks about how how when you have sisters in two cities, you talk less to the sister to whom you have to make STD calls. Bravo, bravo. It ends with a sentimental, Local or STD, a sister is a sister.
All wonderfully done. Just like stupid Indian movies. Now lets look at it logically.
Vodafone charges 1 Rupee for every call you make per minute inside India. Nice. So they are trying to enforce equality and all that.
I know the scheme makes sense to people who make a lot of STD calls. (But then there’s Skype these days for those of you who have computers. Otherwise, if you are really keen on making STD calls, there’s Reliance. 😀 )
Now, coming to whether the scheme makes sense, how many sisters do you have ? One, Two ? Three at the most ? Actually, forget that. How many of those sisters live in another state in India but not in another country ? (I know of cases where more siblings live abroad than in other states.)
How many of you actually make more STD calls than Local calls ? (No, missed calls don’t count.)
Now, I have a scheme under which I can make calls to three numbers inside TN (Vodafone) for 10 Paise per minute. Which means, I can talk ten minutes for the same one Rupee I’d be paying per minute if I made a local call under the aforementioned scheme.
Now, I know lots of people would like to argue that you make quite a few STD calls, but believe me, statistically it can be proved (George can maybe help me with it 🙂 ) that you are more likely to discuss what you want to do over the weekend more often than what you want to do next year during holidays. You will be discussing local train timings more than you will be discussing about making a trip to your relatives house.
Now, why would I want to change to this 1 Rupee scheme when am actually better off with my current scheme ?Â
Vodafone, stop making fools of people even if they are willing to be fooled. 🙂 You know I am actually happy with such advertisements. You know why ? Because it makes me feel good about myself. All those supposedly creative people who said “Engineering is for losers”, come up with loser advertisements like this themselves. So bad that all it takes is an Engineer to realise that the guy who did the advertisement forgot his creativity somewhere and is still searching for it. I feel good about myself. 🙂 About being an Engineer.
Here is one Irfan Khan Vodafone advertisement:
Â
This is the 99 Rupee per month scheme I accidentally recharged with. And I ended uo spending more than 200 Rupees for the month anyway. At least, I didn’t look at the advertisement before recharging with thhe scheme. That would have been adding insult to injury.
In this advertisement, according to Irfan Khan,
A new movie releases, we end up spending 200 rupees.
Wrong!! I almost never watch movies in theatres and even if I do, I never spend 200 rupees for a movie. Ever heard of torrents mate ?
Tea and water costs you more than 100 Rupees these days.
What ? How many litres did you have ?
To end it, he asks the hotelier the bill, to which he replies, 155 Rupees. What ? How ? You can have a decent meal in a decent restaurant for that much. If you eat in places George does, maybe for a week. 🙂
On the other hand, I thought the advertisement with the Credit was actually pretty good. (No doubt it’s just another scheme to make more money by fooling you. But at least it’s creatively good.)
SK KD BLAG 