In writing, I often have the option of editing a previous post, or writing a new post.
Almost two years ago, I wrote a post about Indian TV Commercials. Now, I have new ideas. Nevertheless, I could incorporate them into that post. However, I prefer not to for two reasons: 1) It would make that post unduly lengthy, and I feel that very long posts can bore the reader and 2) I feel that the new information would be hidden in an old post which no one may see. Hence, this new post.
In my old post, I wrote about very good commercials, some note-worthy ones and some horrible ones. In this post, I shall provide very good and recent commercials, and some general observations. About horrible commercials, I shall only reiterate something that I mentioned in the older post: that even somewhat good (or potentially good) commercials can be made horrible by being repeated ad nauseam. I do not know why this is done. Perhaps it is because there are so few commercials in production that they have to constantly repeat the paucity of commercials, or because the commercial breaks are so long (usually lasting 10-15 minutes) and that they have to fill up the time slot by repeating the commercials.
I do not think that any of the following were repeated ad nauseam but even if they were then I think that they would still be considered good.
1) Old Spice "Mantastic"
A recent, interesting (or perhaps, peculiar) theme for a few (about two or three) commercials is that they feature half-naked men (with the implication that they are fully naked) selling certain products. The following is the one that I find the most humourous.
It stars Milind Soman who has acted in a modicum of films over 18 years and who was born in Scotland and whom I have now listed in my Indians? and Indians! post. I have read an interview of his in which he says that he enjoyed doing the commercial because "it pays the bills". It certainly is popular.
Almost two years ago, I wrote a post about Indian TV Commercials. Now, I have new ideas. Nevertheless, I could incorporate them into that post. However, I prefer not to for two reasons: 1) It would make that post unduly lengthy, and I feel that very long posts can bore the reader and 2) I feel that the new information would be hidden in an old post which no one may see. Hence, this new post.
In my old post, I wrote about very good commercials, some note-worthy ones and some horrible ones. In this post, I shall provide very good and recent commercials, and some general observations. About horrible commercials, I shall only reiterate something that I mentioned in the older post: that even somewhat good (or potentially good) commercials can be made horrible by being repeated ad nauseam. I do not know why this is done. Perhaps it is because there are so few commercials in production that they have to constantly repeat the paucity of commercials, or because the commercial breaks are so long (usually lasting 10-15 minutes) and that they have to fill up the time slot by repeating the commercials.
I do not think that any of the following were repeated ad nauseam but even if they were then I think that they would still be considered good.
1) Old Spice "Mantastic"
A recent, interesting (or perhaps, peculiar) theme for a few (about two or three) commercials is that they feature half-naked men (with the implication that they are fully naked) selling certain products. The following is the one that I find the most humourous.
It stars Milind Soman who has acted in a modicum of films over 18 years and who was born in Scotland and whom I have now listed in my Indians? and Indians! post. I have read an interview of his in which he says that he enjoyed doing the commercial because "it pays the bills". It certainly is popular.
2) Nerolac "Umbrella"
Shahrukh Khan may or may not be a good film actor now (it seems as if he has not starred in a decent film since I arrived here in India) but his commercials are almost always good.
In addition, the music and the lyrics of the song, and the story of the commercial itself are good.
3) Ceat Tyres "Idiots"
These commercials have been around for a few years, but it is only now that I have come to appreciate them. They all center around idiots (both other drivers and pedestrians) and that you should have Ceat Tyres to avoid running into them.
The following commercial is the latest installment.
4) As I briefly mentioned in #1 and as I said in my previous Commercials post, humour--along with an emphasis on a product's excellent qualities--is a very powerful combination and usually results in a commercial being designated as very good.
This Amul's Body Warmer Ultima commercial is such an example. The clerk brings this clothing to the customer who says that it is so thin that it could not possibly keep him warm. The bodywarmer feels insulted and slaps the customer several times.
5) Halkat Sawaal
Technically, these are not commercials as they do not promote any product or service and because they are found only on the 9x Jalwa TV channel (a channel showing music videos). However, they do appear during the commercial breaks, and they are very good (Caroline often laughs out loud when watching them) so I am providing one here.
There are many in the series, but they all revolve around Mr. Halkat (the slim character) selling movie tickets on the black/on the black-market and Mr. Sawaal pestering him with so many questions until Mr. Halkat faints from frustration.
In the United States, I observed that a great many (perhaps most) commercials are of products that Americans need or want. This makes logical and rational sense. In the United States, however, the commercials were of fast-food restaurants and cars. In India, a great many (perhaps most) commercials are of personal care products: toothpaste (usually of Colgate or Pepsodent--Crest is not known here), skin-lightening lotions, shampoo, soap, razors, and perfumes and colognes (the above named Old Spice "Mantastic" being one of them).
There are also a few commercials from abroad--which is somewhat surprising--primarily China (and/or Hong Kong and/or Taiwan) and the United States (or perhaps Australia, England, Canada or another place where there are Caucasians--I can not tell because the voices are dubbed into Hindi).
There are many commercials featuring overweight or even obese children doing normal things (although many of the commercials show them to be eating). Unfortunately, obesity has become the new normal in India, and unfortunately there are no commercials or messages informing people of the health risks and other dangers associated with being overweight.
Another, recent observation about television commercials in India, from the Telegraph nerwspaper.