A welcome decision

Finally the I & B Ministry as decided to act and issued a ultimatum to the obscene deodorant commercials to be taken off the air. It's a welcome decision. 

In my earlier blog titled anything and everything...advertisement I had expressed my views on the same. I believe the there are whole lot of others too who feel the same about the obscenity of such ads or commercials.

However its unfortunate that The of India feels its unnecessary moral policing. May be The Times has not watched some of these ads and hence their view. Each time I see these commercials on air it makes me feel awkward watching it with my family. They are highly distasteful and portray women who just want to drool over men at the drop of hats. Cleverly enough The Times does not mention these ads. They mention which may still fall into the acceptable category. But what about the one where a woman playing with kids in the family, is all of a sudden drawn by the fragrance of a particular deo ...gets pulled into a room ...latches it and is shown lustily pulling off her saree??? I mean what is the ad about? Is the person her husband? Is the woman married? or she is spinster? For me its just nothing but...looking at women as just objects of desire. and my question to Times is has our society changed so much in the past 20 years as it says..for women to sleep to with anyone any time and so easily?

Fortunately enough the counter view represents the viewpoints which I strongly agree with. If one does remember the Amul Macho commercial (the one with woman washing the clothes...provocative ads can be suggestively and sensitively done without drooling on to someone's lap or dropping your clothes).

So a welcome decision from the I & B Ministry. Hope they keep up the good work in near future as well. and  let me inform you that some of the prominent admen like Pralhad Kakkad too have supported the ministry on its stand.

For readers I reproducing the Times of India View and Counter view column published in today's Mumbai edition. 

I&B ministry cracks the whip on deodorant advertisements

Times View

Unnecessary moral policing 
The information and broadcasting ministry has issued a diktat to the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), asking it to take action against some deodorant advertisements the ministry has found to be obscene. At this rate, the ministry may just as well appoint itself one of the last outposts of Victorian morality. Suggestive and playful the ads might be, but they can hardly be categorised as soft porn. A lot of contemporary culture is sexually suggestive. Any attempt to ban this is about as futile as King Canute ordering the waves to turn back. 

Most people would laugh if exposed to an ad that depicts a gaggle of women chasing a man who sprays on a particular deodorant. But it seems such humour is lost on the I&B ministry, for whom such ads become objects of ire. Or take a recent ad on which the ministry cracked its whip, which showed women gobbling up a chocolate man. The ministry’s objection is that such ads portray women as ‘objects of desire’, although in many of these cases it’s the men who fit that description much more. Little humour, little desire, but plenty of ire seems to be the ministry’s prescription for society. 

The range of what is acceptable television content changes organically from time to time. What might have been inappropriate 20 years ago may well be run of the mill today. Advertising needs to push the boundaries if it is to connect with an audience. In any case there is a generally accepted principle to shift potentially adult content to suitable late night timings. Most of the advertisements in question are telecast outside family viewing time. In such a scenario, the I&B ministry’s order can only be described as high-handed and out of sync with contemporary television viewing preferences. It must step back and allow self-regulation through the ASCI to take its course. 

Counter View

Ads are objectionable: Ajay Vaishnav 
In a very timely intervention, the I&B ministry has directed advertisers to either modify obscene deodorant ads within five days or take them off the air. The advertisements in question are overtly sexual and depict women as commodities. Not surprisingly, they have deservedly drawn criticism from various quarters on both legal and moral  grounds. Legally, they have violated the country’s advertising code, which categorically states that the portrayal of the female form should be tasteful and aesthetic and within the well established norms of decency. 

More than the legal angle, some of these raunchy commercials using female models in racy storylines have thrown morality out of the window. In their greed to promote and sell their product, an advertiser has gone as far as to suggest relationships within an extended family. Whether or not such ad strategy relying on titillation increases the appeal and thus, sales of the product, it is definitely in bad taste, as well as bad for the moral health of society. Moral decay cannot be allowed to set in at any cost. Further, to depend on cheap sensationalism to sell a product implies a lack of imagination and creativity in presenting the product. 

Another pernicious effect of these ads is the wrong psychological impression they create on minors. To expect the availability of parental guidance on every occasion is impossible. The suggestion to air offensive ads away from a prime-time slot is to deflect attention from the core issue. The advertising industry slavishly follows the West, but our society has different standards. Television has a wide audience and complaints about obscene advertising pour in from many quarters. In setting the boundaries of what is acceptable and what is not, the ministry is just doing its job.

(Times of India, Mumbai, 28-05-2011)