Published on Huffpost India - Amazon's Aur Dikhao Ad: All Show, No Tell

First published here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.in/rekha-raghunathan/amazons-aur-dikhao-ad-all_b_7162384.html

'The' moment

It seemed to her like it was only yesterday when she was chasing after them to keep their routine irrespective of what day of the week it was. A change in bed time or meal times had repercussions for the next day. How would they handle that? How would she handle that?

Fast forward to today and there they were...all plonked on the bed in front of the TV at almost midnight watching Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban eating corn puffs and chips! When did they change so much? When did she change so much?

Many moments came to mind but nothing struck her more than that one moment - when he came into their lives and they became family. Related or not, family they had become and nothing could change that. Each one counting on the other for different things but all, knowing and secure, that they were together. That moment was the change. That was when she (and they) had let go.

Oh was this the beginning of the wonder(ful) years?

Brush, brush, brush your teeth...with what?

Toothpaste advertisements are hilarious. They either show someone in a ridiculous amount of pain, which vanishes upon using the said paste. Or they show someone with ridiculously bad breath, which makes the better half turn away in disgust only to come running back when they see sparkly, coloured 'things' freshen up the air around the planet!

Do you want to prevent toothache and be pain-free or do you want your mouth to be germ-free for 24 hours straight and have your girlfriend/boyfriend cozy up to you? That's the question that Colgate is asking these days.

Take your pick - Colgate Active Salt or Colgate Total. If you think you can use a bit of both on your brush and beat the system, think again.

That's the next ad campaign. Colgate Totally Salty. The paste of the future.

Say cheese!

A Dick is a dick is a dick

At the presentation ceremony of the US Open, the champion Juan Martin del Potro wanted to talk. To thank his team, the fans, just everybody that he could think of in that exhilirated state of mind that he was in. The only problem was that he wasn't fluent in English so after saying a few muddled sentences he asked Dick Enberg if he could say a few words in Spanish. Instead of just passing the mike onto del Potro so he could have his moment, Dick said "We're running out of time"! (One exclamation point is not enough really). A few seconds later when del Potro asked again, he was given the mike but quite reluctantly. Not even two sentences were out of Potro's mouth before the tears started to flow. And again, instead of letting him take it all in, maybe get some applause from the crowd Dick took the mike back and started going on about the prize money he's won, yaada, yaada, yaada!

I've never felt that someone had been named more aptly. Good job, DICK!

Rahman, Rehman whatever

I finished commenting on Atma Gyan's post and went in front of the TV when ARR won the Oscar for best song. I noticed that the presenter pronounced his name as RAHMAN which validates my theory that it is indeed his belief in numerology that made him change the spelling from the time of the nomination to the presentation.

Interesting that even the best of us believe that we need something more than just our talents to win!

Right Choice?

January 20, 2009
2230 hours

Getting to bed early or watching history unfold.
Getting to bed early or watching history unfold.
Getting to bed early or watching history unfold.
Getting to bed early or watching history unfold.

It's never easy to choose...especially when its between two men!

Black Thursday

It's shameful what's been happening in Bombay since last night. When will they see that this is not the answer? Innocents injured, people dying on the job. God bless all those that have given their lives fighting this madness and God be with those that are still out there trying to save the rest.

Yes, it is shameful the way things are panning out but I find it even more shameful that the breaking news on almost all the channels is that England have cancelled the remainder of their tour. We all love sports, especially our cricket. But please, let's put things in perspective.

Black or White

While watching a cookery show that had shrimps on the menu, my helper asked me what it was. I tried explaining the Tamil word for it...'Yera' i think. She remarked that it was usually black and then, without missing a beat went on to add that the shrimps on the show were white because they were in Europe!

Reality (shows) bite

I've never been a fan of reality shows. Be it Idol, Survivor, Dance with the stars etc...I'm not sure why that's the case. Maybe because I don't believe that they're as real as they claim to be. Anyway, I thought I'd left the world of reality shows behind when I came back to India only to find the same shows broadcast here with a time delay.

Of late, to make matters worse, all regional language channels have started similar shows. Random people singing, dancing and acting in front of the so-called famous judges from the respective movie industries passing poor comments and judments hearing which the contestants mostly cry (either due to extreme joy at winning or extreme agony at being kicked out). The whole thing appears to be so false that I really wonder how so many people tune into these shows and sit through them. Almost every single Tamil channel that I know of has a show like this and everyone claims that their viewership is the highest level.

What does this say about the audience? And maybe the better question is what does this say about the ability of show producers? Its definitely easier to throw a bunch of people together and get them to sing or dance (or both) than to write a script, get real actors, direct it and sustain levels of interest for a prolonged period. Who is to blame for this slide in quality shows? Or is it a slide? Am I just being too cynical and critical because I don't like them?