It fetched me a handful of international awards in 2001.
Copy: Me
Art: Devesh Desai
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Monday, April 23, 2007
One way traffic
"Turn the other cheek", said the Lord, "if someone were to smite you on one".
But no matter how committed a practising Christian you are, it's one piece of advice you're going to find very hard to follow, if you are an advertiser on those stretches of Chennai which have recently been deemed a one-way. It's left your billboards facing the direction of traffic and making a point behind people's backs. A unique glitch, which calls for a unique fix. So you call the grey cells at the agency, who then get together to come up with what's affectionately called a media innovation.
(Just an ounce from their pound of jargon for which you can hardly penalise them. It does take a great deal of innovation to get Mr.Client to cough up a little more than the 0.0000001% he's paying the agency.)
Now back to the problem. Oh, but that really is the problem. People now have their backs to it. So let's confront it then. Giddyup...
Option 1
Say we put a large mirror exactly opposite the billboard which is looking the wrong way. Yes, that means you repaint the billboard laterally inverted. It has to be done. You can't let a few extra bucks come in the way of creativity.
But you know Murphy's views on things that go wrong. What if, two weeks down, the city's traffic controllers decided they'd got the one-way pointing in the wrong direction, and decided to do an about turn? Leaving the mirror useless, and motorists riding straight into laterally inverted messages?
"! PLEH"
Option 2
An amplifier and speaker on the billboard, programmed to shout out a few words every 5 seconds. How about "Psssssssssssssssssst...pssssssssssssst.... blue Kinetic. Look here." (Silence) Then in our very own superstar's voice, "Naan oru vaati sonna, nooru vaati sonna madhiri".
Not a bad idea, huh? More cost effective too. Unless you count the possibility of being sued by motorists who turn to the voice and off the road into a hospital bed. Not to worry. That only happens in America.
Option 3
It's not very creative, so you can have it for free. Take down those billboards. Save the money. And make your first contribution to making Chennai a lot easier on the eye. I wonder how many agencies would put their money on this one.
But no matter how committed a practising Christian you are, it's one piece of advice you're going to find very hard to follow, if you are an advertiser on those stretches of Chennai which have recently been deemed a one-way. It's left your billboards facing the direction of traffic and making a point behind people's backs. A unique glitch, which calls for a unique fix. So you call the grey cells at the agency, who then get together to come up with what's affectionately called a media innovation.
(Just an ounce from their pound of jargon for which you can hardly penalise them. It does take a great deal of innovation to get Mr.Client to cough up a little more than the 0.0000001% he's paying the agency.)
Now back to the problem. Oh, but that really is the problem. People now have their backs to it. So let's confront it then. Giddyup...
Option 1
Say we put a large mirror exactly opposite the billboard which is looking the wrong way. Yes, that means you repaint the billboard laterally inverted. It has to be done. You can't let a few extra bucks come in the way of creativity.
But you know Murphy's views on things that go wrong. What if, two weeks down, the city's traffic controllers decided they'd got the one-way pointing in the wrong direction, and decided to do an about turn? Leaving the mirror useless, and motorists riding straight into laterally inverted messages?
"! PLEH"
Option 2
An amplifier and speaker on the billboard, programmed to shout out a few words every 5 seconds. How about "Psssssssssssssssssst...pssssssssssssst.... blue Kinetic. Look here." (Silence) Then in our very own superstar's voice, "Naan oru vaati sonna, nooru vaati sonna madhiri".
Not a bad idea, huh? More cost effective too. Unless you count the possibility of being sued by motorists who turn to the voice and off the road into a hospital bed. Not to worry. That only happens in America.
Option 3
It's not very creative, so you can have it for free. Take down those billboards. Save the money. And make your first contribution to making Chennai a lot easier on the eye. I wonder how many agencies would put their money on this one.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Yellow fever in Chennai
It's the Gold Rush in Chennai. Or Akshaya Thritiya as it's more commonly referred to.
The newspapers are flush with ads for stores selling gold, featuring lasses covered from head to toe in the yellow metal (I kid you not Joe).
The market streets are bustling with people wanting to exchange their year’s savings for a handful of yellow metal. It’s auspicious you see - buy gold now for an ‘aurified’ future. Articles and editorials also urge people to buy gold, playing shamelessly on middle class India’s eternal hope of prosperity and a better tomorrow. And not to mention even more gold.
I’ll be out with my camera to catch some pictures of crowds in gold frenzy. And I’m going to turn down the flash before I step out.
The newspapers are flush with ads for stores selling gold, featuring lasses covered from head to toe in the yellow metal (I kid you not Joe).
The market streets are bustling with people wanting to exchange their year’s savings for a handful of yellow metal. It’s auspicious you see - buy gold now for an ‘aurified’ future. Articles and editorials also urge people to buy gold, playing shamelessly on middle class India’s eternal hope of prosperity and a better tomorrow. And not to mention even more gold.
I’ll be out with my camera to catch some pictures of crowds in gold frenzy. And I’m going to turn down the flash before I step out.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Pokkiri
This guy's one helluva entertainer. The dialogues, dances, the dishum dishum... he's got it all worked out. I loved the movie. Bury the Guns 'n' Roses T-shirt. I'm going to get one with Vijay on it.
More about the movie here.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Monday, April 09, 2007
A call for help...
This ad never ran. The number is a dummy. However, the context hasn't changed much. The tsunami victims still await help (all that the government promised, unlike the tsunami, is turning up in a trickle laced with bureaucratic hurdles).
Just google 'Tsunami relief in India' to find ways in which you can contribute.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
An airplane is an airplane is an airplane?
I've written hundreds of ads for Air Deccan in the 3 years I worked on the account. This was one I enjoyed tremendously. Art director, Sagar Prajapati.
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