Worst Indian advertisements of 2024!!

 March 29, 2024

1. Indira's Rasam advertisement - Racist and Sexist

It is a very racist and sexist advertisement. It says, "If you have a North Indian wife, you just need a minute to make rasam, with our Indira rasam powder you can make Ghuma Ghuma Lade rasam (piping hot rasam) in a few seconds". 

This ad on this Karnataka bus had gone viral. the advertisement assumes that if a South Indian husband has a North Indian wife, she does not know how to make rasam, a South Indian dish.

Basically, that is the crux of the matter. The statement smacks of gender discrimination, there is regional philosophy that rasam is south Indian, north Indians cannot cook southern dishes, that southern men should not marry north Indian girls, and, that if they do, they should forget their favourite south Indian dishes, give up on their main dishes, etc. At best such promotions should be avoided.  

April 10, 2024

 2. CENTURY PLY ad in The Economic Times - Good Promotion or Bad!!!

It's intriguing to see the CENTURY PLY advertisement in the Economic Times, India's leading daily business, particularly as it coincides with the Sensex reaching 75,000! Whether the timing was deliberate or coincidental remains uncertain. 

What adds to the curiosity is that the model featured is Pratik Gandhi, renowned for his work in Gujarati theatre and cinema. He gained widespread acclaim for his portrayal of Harshad Mehta in the Sony LIV series "Scam 1992" (2020), where he depicted the controversial figure of Harshad Mehta.

Harshad Mehta's character is subject to much debate - was he a hero or a villain? While some may justify his actions, many view him as a criminal who manipulated the system for personal gain, resulting in significant losses for investors and even suicides.

CENTURY PLY advertises itself as a sound investment for the future, yet the choice of Pratik Gandhi, associated with portraying Harshad Mehta, raises eyebrows due to the latter's tainted legacy in financial markets. The question arises: Does such advertising generate positive or negative publicity? Perhaps most readers may not even recognize Pratik Gandhi, let alone associate him positively or negatively.

One could argue that CENTURY PLY should have chosen a more recognizable face, especially from the financial sector, for such an advertisement. Moreover, the decision to place the advertisement in the Economic Times, a finance and investment-focused publication, raises questions about its target audience. 

Perhaps it would have been more fitting to place the advertisement in a general interest newspaper like the Times of India. The readership profiles of The Economic Times and Times of India differ significantly, suggesting a potential mismatch in targeting the desired audience for the advertisement.

April 14, 2024

3. Kit-Kit or Kit-Kat, very confusing Upstox Commercial!

I am confused about Upstox's KitKit ad. Is it Kitkit or KitKat. I know that it is KitKit or yapping but if one is not paying attention it sounds like KitKat.  I know one company that is not complaining at all. Nestle the makers of KitKat. They will take all the publicity that comes their way. 

April 22, 2024

Lost in Translation - Hindi to Telugu ads and one great Tamil to Hindi - Paying back in the same Coin!!

4. Po Ra Po, Surf Excel: Sometimes I feel very annoyed that I seem to be the only person who critically analyzes the way advertisement campaigns are made and executed. Take for instance Surf Excel’s “Po Rub Pu” campaign. 

The campaign (yawn) takes the usual tack of dirty clothes becoming sparkling clean with Surf Excel. But what makes the ad annoying is the language (Hinglish). Everyone in the ad mouths the words Po Rub Pu which is the short form of the phrase “Pour Rub Pour” or saying that a a little Surf Excel is enough to make the toughest stains disappear. 

But an issue crops up when a Telugu-speaking person sees the advertisements. It sounds like Po Ra Po (పో రా పో). Po Ra Po is slang, it means “you!! Get lost”. children can never say Po Ra Po to their elders. It is quite jarring to see young kids saying Po Ra Po to elderly women. No one has even protested and it is business as usual. 

5. Na Cheez Anta - Amul Cheese Telugu Advertisement - Lost in Translation - Translation blunder!:  

This advertisement was funny, and I want Hindi readers to comment (Clue the key word's meaning in Urdu). Of course, Hyderabad being quite Urdu-dominant, many Telugu-speaking Hyderabad friends might also get it. As they say, the devil is in the details! Nacheez is an Urdu word that means 'nothing'. But it is often used to describe oneself. E.g. Nacheez ko Maneesha kehte hain—I am known as Maneeesha. It is used to convey or denote a sense of humility about oneself.

6. Parimatch Sports’s ఆమె ఆడుతుంది, మీరు జరుపుకోండి:  

The above advertisements were on the metro pillars in Hyderabad during the WPL tournament in March. This became a talking point on social media. It means, “She plays, you celebrate” in Telugu.

I had many doubts racing in my mind. Celebrate? How should I celebrate? Why should I celebrate if she is playing? (don’t even know the person). Not my wife, daughter and I don’t even know her remotely?

The mystery was solved when I googled to find the original English version. The English version was “She plays, you win”. This app is a game, and we can bet as the game progresses. The more we interact the more is the chance to win.  

7. The dosa ballebaaz (batsman): Idly/Dosa batters are the saviours in many houses. The cumbersome process of making the batter is taken out of hand with the onset of ready-made idly/Dosa batters. Very convenient and reasonably priced they are hugely popular. Wanting to take advantage of ready-made Idly/Dosa batters a Tamil company foraged into the Hindi markets ( north Indian markets).

 

So far so good. The package said Idly/dosa batter in English and Tamil. Trying to attract the Hindi buyers they translated idly/Dosa batter into Hindi. Google translate feature nicely kicked the company in the rear side. 

Idly/Dosa batter became Idly/”Dosa Ballebaaz”, Literally idly/dosa batsman. The buyers would have scratched their heads in bewilderment. They must have thought that this Idly/Dosa mix was only for CSK batsmen. Jokes apart never trust Google Translate when your life, brand, and career are on the line.

April 25, 2024

Telugu Translation Goof ups – Wolfa and Telugu Gibberish from Om Raut

 8.  Wolf Became Wolfa in  Telugu 

Nowadays it is trendy to release the same movie in different languages. But most producers don’t take enough care and make silly mistakes. Prabhu Deva acted in the movie “Wolf”. In Telugu, it was translated as “Wolfa”. Wolfa in Telugu means a useless fellow or a good-for-nothing person.

9. Adipurush’s does not care a hoot for the Telugu Language.

What a sad situation. Telugu film industry is known for making the best mythological movies which are still a great draw. Thus, it is a pity to note that Om Raut takes Prabhas the Telugu superstar and makes him a caricature of a Ram.

Rubbing salt into the wound, the tweet put out by the director himself has some gibberish touting to be the Telugu language.  It was written as

The above is not Telugu at all! The line should be శక్తివంతులం.. భక్తివంతులం. 

The Bollywood promotion designer team couldn’t read the Telugu lines, so they ignored the mistakes and posted them as they were. The movie makers have spent nearly ₹500 crores to make the movie, but can’t they spend a few hundred rupees to get the Telugu lines properly written in their promotional material? No, they used Google Translate.

May 02, 2024

10. Locks and Mocks: Confronting the Shame of Facial Hair Blame - The sordid case of Prachi Nigam and Bombay Shaving Company advertisement!!!

It is customary for every state board to announce its 10th and 12th school exam toppers. All the state boards do it and most of the time these go under the radar. But this time the announcement from the UP-state board caught the attention.

The 10th topper Ms. Prachi Nigam who scored 98.5% garnered unwanted attention due to her facial hair. Hirsutism is excess hair growth on the body or face. It's caused by excess hormones called androgens. For women, the hair may grow in places where men often have a lot of hair, but women often don't. This includes the upper lip, chin, chest, and back.

Most of us looked at the announcement and ignored it. But the social media netizens did not spare Prachi. They heavily trolled her. The body shaming came as a huge shock as we should appreciate Prachi’s intelligence and not make fun of her body hair. It was reported that even though Prach was hurt, she was determined to achieve her goals in life despite what people say about her appearance

.

When things were settling down an advertisement appeared in the English newspapers. It was Bombay Shaving Company. This advertisement came under heavy criticism for its “insensitivity”.

Shantanu Deshpande, founder and CEO of the grooming brand, shared a picture of the newspaper ad that read, “Dear Prachi, they are trolling your hair today, they’ll applaud your A.I.R. tomorrow.”. At the bottom of the advertisement was the sucker punch “ We hope that you never get bullied into using our razor”

Sharing the picture, Deshpande wrote on his X (Twitter) account, “It was shocking to see the amount of hate targeted at a teenage girl who had TOPPED AN EXAM because of her facial hair. Our simple message to this amazing young woman with such a bright future. Love to see my team ooze class. No opportunistic sale, QR code, nothing. Just a heartfelt message to a fellow Bae.”

Shantanu Deshpande thought he and his company were being considerate. They thought they were supporting Prachi for her achievement. Bombay shaving company was just being opportunistic. They wanted to cash into the hype and the buzz surrounding Ms. Prachi Nigam.

“No opportunistic sale, QR code, nothing”. But the ad is what it is. Exploitative. They take a full-page advertisement at a heavy cost in all the English newspapers and then say it is not opportunism. Also, they include a snide comment at the bottom about the “usage of the Razor”.

If Bombay Shaving Company wanted to help Prachi, they could have arranged for a scholarship and helped her overcome her medical condition. But no, they took the easy way out. The easy way was to be clever and release an advertisement in extremely bad taste. Not done, Bombay Shaving Company. 

June 19, 2024

Copywriting Blunders - PhDs from WhatsApp University - Prakash Ads and Lalitha Jewellery

11. Prakash Ads: Common Sense is not common. It says, "where culture and chaos coexist". Really why is it that no one found this offensive? The picture shows women celebrating the very iconic Battukamma festival the pride of Telugu pride!!!

BATTUKAMMA is culture or chaos? And who writes this type of copy? Maybe a Ph.D. from WhatsApp University with a Postdoctoral from Chat GPT!!!  Dictionary meaning of chaos "Complete confusion and disorder: a state in which behavior and events are not controlled by anything. For example, the loss of electricity caused chaos throughout the city. When the police arrived, the street was in total/complete/absolute chaos".  Maybe the greenhouse wannabe copywriter was trying to rhyme. Like they say in Telugu, " ప్రాస కోసం పాకులాట"

12. Lalitha Jewellery: 

Gundu sir is selling "100% No V.A Chargers, they mean Charges". Another gem from PhD copywriters from WhatsApp University!!!

 October 29, 2024

13. Not so Sweet Jab: Paytm takes a playful dig at Zepto's free Soan Papdi Campaign!!!

Paytm's new campaign, ‘Iss Diwali gifting ka naya tareeka shuru karo (this Diwali starts a new trend in gifting),” comes as a surprise. Paytm is a fading brand in the payment apps. It is seen as a Nokia in that category. Just like Nokia, it grew the segment only to give way, market share, word of mouth, and top-of-the-mind awareness to Google Pay and Phone Pay. Phone Pay and Google Pay have become the default payment apps, and Paytm is slowly fading into the background.

The advertisement shows a family visiting their friend’s house on Diwali night. As they are ringing the bell, they hear voices from inside the house. The husband is commenting, “What did you get as a gift from your office?" His wife says, “Soan Papdi, what else? and adds, “If anyone else gifts me Soan Papdi, I will shove it down their damn throats.”.

Hearing this, the visiting couple hurriedly dumps the offending soap Papdi gift packet into the bushes. Pleasantries are exchanged, and the cheeky little boy asks, “Uncle, what gift have you brought us?”. The friend couple is nonplussed for a second but recovers dramatically and transfers Rs 1,100/- on Paytm, and the day is saved. But rubbing salt into the wound, he cheekily comments, “With that money, your dad can buy you gifts or can buy you—Soan Papdi!!!”.

In the present scenario, it is quite strange that Paytm launched this campaign. It was okay to talk about its own USP (it is no longer Paytm’s USP) and try to promote itself. Instead, it is trying to make fun of Zepto, who is trying to do a noble thing in trying to bring back glory for Soan Papdi.

While the Zepto campaign brings a lump to the heart and makes us smile, the Paytm campaign tries to be too smart for its own good. It is smart alerky and sounds like a campaign executed by a fresh behind-the-ears management school employee trying to be funny and falling flat on his/her face.

And while Zepto and Paytm have a symbiotic relationship. Each is dependent on the other for survival. Customers use Zepto and Paytm for convenience. So, is it worthy to make fun of your business partner? Not in my view. Both need each other to survive. All in all, a campaign that could have been avoided. 

November 22, 2024

14. "THE TIMES of INDIA" does it again - Plays with its Masthead! But not the first Time!!!

At ICBM-SBE students are given two newspapers per day. "The Times of India and The Economic Times." Today they were excited to receive a third, the Paneer of India! Jokes apart, can you play around with the sacrosanct masthead? 

The Fake Masthead 

The Real Masthead: 

This type of stunt was tried by TOI once, maybe 20-25 years ago for the first time. On that day the first page screamed,  "LET TIMES OF INDIA WAIT" : The body copy talked "breathlessly" about the impending launch of a new variant of chocolate (or something else; I don't clearly remember). The entire masthead was changed. It was the love of the lucre!!

The Puritans were furious with the wordplay involving the Sacrosanct Masthead. Arguments raged for weeks and months. But in the overstimulated modern era, anything is passé. Your opinions are welcome.

December 02, 2024

15. Make AI Mediocre Again - a Cadbury Initiative when irrelevance becomes the new relevance!

What is happening? It is too much stimulation!!! Is it déjà vu? Or is irrelevance the new relevance? I am not sure, and I am sure many of our generation are floundering with the same type of doubt or self-doubt!

Of course, I am talking about the latest ad from Cadbury 5 Star. In the last decade, Cadbury Five Star has decided that its main target group is millennials and that it must shock people out of their pants to achieve that objective.

They have done many “in-your-face campaigns” that seem to resonate with their target group, like “Eat 5 star, do nothing” campaigns, and the latest campaign, “Make AI Mediocre Again.”.

My generation has grown up watching and admiring Cadbury’s iconic ads and campaigns, like Cadbury cricket, Khaane Waalon ko khaane ka Bahana Chahiye, Kuch Meetha Ho Jaaye, Khaane Ke Baad Meethe Mein Kuch Meetha Ho Jaaye, Shubh Aarambh, Raho Umarless, and Bring out the child in you, etc. This one is and sounds sacrilegious!

The ad talks about how AI is making our lives miserable and making us work more. The solution? Make AI mediocre by submitting a lot of trash in farm search engines. According to Cadbury, this will make AI mediocre again, and we can be back at our workstations—doing nothing but eating Cadbury 5 stars!

Is Cadbury serious! I don’t know. They ask us to submit our worst answers that will make AI mediocre! I scanned through the comments section of the ad airing on YouTube, and 99% of the viewers liked and even commented on how doing nothing is the best thing. I might belong to the minuscule minority, but I dislike the advertisement! I don’t get it at all. Can we fight AI? I suppose not! That is what Cadbury is trying to do!

This ad is prodding the millennials into inactivity! But active in consuming Cadbury 5 Star! Welcome to the digital world—where irrelevance is the new relevance!

December 29, 2024

16. Change the Soch - Really, nothing has changed! Franklin Templeton's Latest Campaign

Change the Soch campaign by Franklin Templeton was launched with much fanfare. It TomToms the fact that it tries to highlight women's role in giving advice in all aspects of life, including offering financial advice. But surprisingly, I find that advertisement to be regressive, sexist, and even propagating existing stereotypes.

The advertisement opens with a youngster lazily telling his family about his salary rise. His quip: “What should he do with it?”. This is where the advertisement confirms the stereotype. His father is shown repairing a grinder/mixer. His mother is cutting onions, and yes, she is weeping.

She tells him, “What is there to think? Top up your SIP. This is the right  time." Her son is puzzled. He gives her a puzzled look and says, "I don't understand." His mother gives him an exasperated look clears her voice and says in a very masculine voice (imitating her husband?)  "What is there is think. Top up with SIP. It is the right time".

Her son's face breaks into a smile. He smirks and says, "Now I understand." The message appears: Women = Men in financial advice too. Is this supposed to be a pathbreaking Changing Soch advertisement?

The lady is still cutting onions, and she is still weeping. Her husband is still doing manly jobs like repairing mixies. Her motherly advice is ignored. The minute she talks like his father in a masculine voice (like a man), her son immediately responds.

Even the message smacks of male chauvinism. Women = Men. What do you mean by speaking equal to? In a country that worships women, call the country Bharat Mata and revere her as Maa Durga; the ad comes through as regressive and supporting and conforming to age-old stereotypes. Please have a rethink. Franklin Templeton.