Many months back I wrote a post about some noteworthy advertisements; making a list of a few advertisements that were absolutely delightful to watch and many people especially those living abroad really liked those commercials. These commercials had a little bit of everything in them, some sentiments, a message and they were executed beautifully. Now after so many months when I thought of making such a list again I realized that there isn’t even one TV commercial at the moment which has that effect on me and which has the wow factor. I think for a Television viewer commercials are very important because whether we like to or not we have to watch these advertisements. Just the other day while watching Zindagi Gulzar Hai, I could not help but criticize every single commercial I saw during the advertisement break and it sort of spoiled the drama watching experience for me. Commercials do not have to be boring and passive but they can be just as engaging as the dramas themselves. I do realize that making a good commercial is tough job because you have to get your message through to the consumer in a very short span of time and make them sit down and pay attention is quite difficult but surely we can do better than what we are doing at the moment.
Am I the only one who feels that most of the commercials nowadays are just plain lame? Even if the ideas are innovative, the execution does not appeal to you at all. For example the Olpers advertisement in which the lady talks about choices that a woman has to make in life etc. I think the idea is excellent but the way the idea has been put into words is not the least bit impressive and the model’s body language just makes you yawn. Ufone commercials have always been great with a touch of wit and humor but even that is getting repetitive now and seeing the same faces over and over again does not help. Watching Saba Qamar dressed up in the most unimpressive attire in a fairness cream’s advertisement just added to the disappointment. Saba Qamar is talented and beautiful and perfectly capable of attracting the audience for the right reasons too, so why resort to such tactics?
Almost every year I eagerly look forward to the commercials that are made specifically for the month of Ramzan but this year around there were hardly any advertisements that were made especially for the month and even those that were aired in the month did not strike a chord the way they usually do. Are there any commercials on air at the moment which you enjoy watching? Or most of them are just putting you to sleep? Do you feel like our advertisement agencies are losing the creativity needed to come up with new and interesting ideas? I do believe in star power but I also think that just hiring pretty and popular faces is definitely not enough. I hope someone out there is listening and few of the brands like Nestle, Olpers and Ufone which have given us many memorable commercials will gives us more to write home about.
Fatima Awan.
