uno

I always name my first posts in every new blog i create as uno...and i never move beyond the first post...so maybe this was a mistake...maybe i shudnt have named the first one this time as uno...on the other hand...maybe this time i'll be lucky...anyways let me for once stop obsessing about me... and not write about ME in the first post...lets choose the most hackneyed yet popular(question: whats the difference between hackneyed and popular?) topic of the moment...the Cricket World Cup...more specifically...India at the Cricket World Cup...
Now don't get me wrong...i'm a "typical" girl as they say...i HATE cricket...however i believe in information...so i know about it even though i hate it...however i don't feel i'm entitled to rubbish the game just cuz i don't like it (notice the url at the top of the page)...so i am just talking about something slightly different...advertisements
There is something i read in some newspaper (hey, not my fault we get like three newspapers at home on sundays) {i dunno why people always refer to newspapers?} about the new pepsi ad...for those afflicted with cable problems as some of my dear friends are...this is one where sachin takes a bottle of pepsi and as he is about to pass it on to his teammates, its grabbed by "chengras" (for want of a better word) who are then pursued by team india (ugh). They eventually reach a place which is definitely a railway station (why?) where a huge crowd has gathered. they all then reveal themselves to be wearing the BLUE tshirts (i call it pepsi blue though the Indian cricket jersey came before the failed drink) called rather incorrectly the "Blue Billion." And the last shot is of tigers leaving the cricket pitch...tigers supposed to be "team India."
Now the article commented on the sentiments that this "striking" ad(im not too sure about the striking part though yeah, the music reminds me of the kabaddi chant) evokes or rather might evoke. It says that it shows the cricketers like Dhoni and Sehwag being bullied and is rather weird in that regard. maybe...but there are two things which i found noteworthy:
1) Pepsi as in the product itself was relegated to the background...true it started with them running for their "precious" Pepsi but it got lost from the crowd somewhere in the middle other than the customary swig at the end...now except for the consumer perspective, i really don't know anything about ad-making...but i feel this actually works in an odd way...i might not be induced to straightway grab a bottle but i do remember whose ad it was at least...
2) I seriously did not understand why they had to show a railway station...if it was that...what possible significance could that have?
Another ad that i remember was Dravid endorsing Sansui...i have no idea about Sansui and its reputation...but my Dad tells me that it isnt one of the best brands when it comes to goods like Tvs etc...in the ad Dravid is recounting the similarities between the Indian Cricket team and Sansui...i was convinced...especially when he talked about the similarity in the reliability of both of them...yeah, i said, both were identical...unreliable...
For my part, i believe in ads...i believe in them more than the other things shown on tv....i sometimes switch channels just to see ads...So what strikes me most is the fact that these ads are gonna be like salt on an open wound once (ok, for fans...if) India is out of the reckoning in the World Cup...i'm guessing they will be withdrawn...hoping so actually...and aired again during the nexy major cricketing event...for me though it makes no difference...for me these are just ads...and the cricketers just another celebrity shooting for the ads...they probably spend as much time in front of the camera as in front of the nets anyways....
Adios for today...lets keep the introductions for another post...