I’m writing this piece just to have a general idea about what our viewers think of the advertisements that we see these days. Advertisements are the strongest brain-feeding strategy that we have because it’s just a matter of few seconds but it does the trick of getting a message across completely. Just some catchy jingle or punch line can end up being with you forever. I remember back in those days I loved diamond supreme foam’s jingle which went on like ‘kaam kaam kaam’, plus punch line of Waves appliances has stayed with me which stated ‘waves, naam hi kaafi hai’. Shaan’s ‘Allhamdullilah, Shaan masalay aik munfarid naam’ is also something that often pops up in mind but I am kind of saddened to see the current advertisements that are running on our TV screens these days.
Right now, it’s just & ALL about Naach Gana. Let it be Sunsilk, Sooper, Q-Mobile, Sprite, Sanitary Napkins, Omore, 7UP, Coca Cola, Tarang, Pampers (kid doing belly dancing) & so on, all that we see in these ads are a bunch of youngsters or stars – basically a group that is dancing. I never knew that dancing was the best strategy to sell a product & attract customers. As far as I learnt during my Marketing sessions, it was all about making people aware of what your product is, not about how you’re going to act after you buy or use it. Right now, I hardly remember any ad or the punch line but what I do remember is jumping jacks dressed differently in each & every commercial. I do understand that someone might jump with joy by the sight of Tea tray approaching them but what I fail to understand is the need of people dancing just by seeing some sort of a tea-milk (Referring to Tarang)? Is it really such a joy? If anyone would dance while shampoo-ing, they’ll end up in the hospital because of the slippery surface it may produce. One might choke to death if they’d jump while drinking fizzy drinks & a biscuit will make you cough too if you eat it while dancing. Ice cream will melt because you’d be focusing more on the moves plus no one ever has been seen using a mobile while being air-bourne, it’s just not right. The ads look exactly as pointless as the arguments I’ve written.
Back then there were so many perfect advertisements that ran on the TV without being obscene or meaning-less. Currently, a couple is giving some sort of weird looks to each other, some girls dancing because they’re being free, boys dancing because they found something kewl to drink, these are the strategies our commercial makers have opted for because they think it’s the best way to make a mark in the viewers minds. No offence to Faisal Qureshi/Jawad Bashir’s team but I must confess that the useless comedy in Ufone commercials actually gets to our nerves now, we’ve seen you making us laugh for like a decade so it’s better to resort to something else, please.
I must say that Ramzan’s ad by Olpers every year has to be my favourite amongst all, where it doesn’t only focus on the festivity that month carries it also very decently promotes the product too. I think that’s the best way to make an impact & that is by emotionally stirring a thought rather than hiring people to dance for you just because you perceive your product to make someone dance like a lunatic in the middle of the road.
It looks like marketing people do not want to brain-storm & come up with the creative ideas or ways but in stead they just rely on the easiest way out because that involves lesser thinking. I hope that the commercial makers step back a little & re-think at how they want to promote their brands because these days it’s nothing more than a musical hideous headache that one sees in the form of our commercials & the only preventive measure is to change the channel.
Voice your opinions please.
Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.