Killing Indian Stereotypes
A recent article in a magazine talked about how brands are attracting the younger generation of a new India by targeting stereotypes that have existed since centuries citing examples like Tanishq’s remarriage commercial and Fastrack’s “Move On” campaign. I found this to be surprisingly true and tried to scratch the surface by asking the question, “Is the changing face of Indian marketing campaigns the reflection of changing Indian values?”
To really answer that question, I first had to define a domain that could encompass the centuries-old Indian culture. And after a lot of thinking, I think I found a symbol of Indian culture — it’s Shaktimaan. You see it’s a super-hero concept that is borrowed from the west who borrowed it from us originally. So in its evolved form, the concept aimed at guiding the children in an entertaining way (one of whom I was at the time) while also advocating the ultimate debate — the prevalence of light over darkness. Cliché! And just as we grew up, the innocence with which it was built became a matter of fun and humor for us to tweet about on twitter.
Think about it. That’s how the state of dowry in Indian culture has evolved. It was considered to be sacred and voluntary in its most original format, and then it became a mess. The western culture influenced us to treat it as a serious matter, the government and the whole society pitched in to abolish the practice of dowry. It faded over time and now our generation (most of it) views it as a big fat joke that is utterly illogical. The popular group AIB treats it with such great humor and sarcasm that it is almost iconic of our generation.
Now that last part is where I think our generation has changed a lot — humor and sarcasm.
The ways you deal with something that you don’t agree with, say a lot about you than the facts ever could.
And that is exactly how the brands are campaigning with clever, funny and at times bold digital campaigns. Fastrack, as mentioned earlier is a great example of saying, “You can have a failed relationship and still be cool and outgoing. It’s not like you’ll never be happy again!” While Tanishq goes a step further and says, “You can have a failed marriage and still find love once again. It’s not the end of life!” People don’t realize it now but these are ground-breaking marketing campaigns that will probably set the standards for the digital campaigners in a country of a billion people. So are they changing Indian values? I don’t think so. From deities such as Ram to Krishna in our culture, we have always found marriages and relationships to be a matter of individual choices rather than a societal affair which is how we treat it today.
Similarly, ilovediamonds.com has a naughty digital campaign for young Indian women. Their “My First Time” campaign is a double entendre that starts with women speaking about losing their virginity and of course takes a stark turn as if to say, “Oh no, I was just talking about that time when I had my first diamond ring!” So subtle. Again, if virginity is treated as a virtue, I wonder why Kunti and Mother Mary are the women we treat as deities.
It’s not surprising that a large section of the target audience of these marketing campaigns is women. After all, women in India are long treated as those who spend while their hubbies are out making money. It was never cool to be a shopaholic until now. Jabong has played a huge role in doing just that. Their ads always seem to be promoting how great it is to be a shopaholic but they’ve also run a very successful campaign called “Be You!” which encourages men and women alike to follow their own destiny. What Jabong says is, it’s okay to shop as much as you want while also encouraging women to, well, “men up” (a phrase of strength that’s soon going to become extinct) and make their own life choices. Independent women earning for themselves have no obligation to answer to anyone! Having been in a state of despair for so many centuries, it can only be great for our society that these campaigns are helping women of India more.
Let’s take this a notch further. All of us know how stereotypical it is to talk about sex and sex education in India. In fact, to be such conservative and intolerant about the word “sex” after kind of being the pioneer of sex by giving this world the ultimate guide “Kamasutra” centuries ago, I would say it is more hypocritical of us than stereotypical. A few years back, the government of India ran an aggressive campaign on the use of condoms in the fight against AIDS. The ads were funny, helpful and most importantly, they were a beginning.
The fact that they were so successful, companies like Skore condoms have campaigns that almost have a Kamasutra-esque appeal to them. I wouldn’t say this is absolutely necessary but hey, every local train in Mumbai has at least 10 posters of chocolate-flavored condoms. And if these big firms are making money by creating such a huge appeal, why should our children be kept in dark when it comes to imparting sex education in schools? Every state government denies it to the point that they don’t even want to talk about it. Most other progressive nations have a system in place to teach their young boys and girls about puberty while we still grope in the darkness literally and figuratively. This is a huge problem in our country today that hasn’t got much attention. And frankly, I’m happy that at least these campaigns are sparking the conversation.
Yes, that’s what all of these campaigns are doing! They’re sparking the conversation. Bold India is back or should I say the centuries-old, original India is back — the progressive civilization that got lost along the way!
