Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Politicians and fairness creams

Calling designers to come forth and offer their design services to ALL political parties that advertise in public spaces through posters and hoardings. I have yet to see a single political poster or hoarding in Mumbai that is not repelling. Sycophancy and self-aggrandizement ooze through every pixel. If politicians must blow their own trumpet on non/minor achievements at the very least they can do so tastefully. They don't lack the funds to hire quality designers. They certainly lack the taste and the courtesy to spare citizens having to endure the pointless clutter.

These days the fairness products industry is advertising aggressively in various media. They kind of rival the political hoardings in terms of the nonsense quotient. "Become fair and spot-less* in 7 days". One suspects there will soon be a campaign that promises fairness in an hour (possibly for an hour !) . Notice here that I stress on campaign and not the product . That's because no fairness product can do what the campaigns claim to do. As I write this post it occurs to me that folks who create their campaigns for the fairness industry are perfect for politicians to revamp their outdoor promotion . Here's why -

- They know how to bull shit
- They have more aesthetic sense than the politicians

Think about it..an airbrushed ,'spot less' politician wrapped in white halo would be a lot less annoying than a bunch of them jostling for space even in an orange colored hoarding :)










6 comments:

Balu said...

Perfectly said.

My sad story - You have heard people saying that "I have lost lot of money in gambling'

But, I have lost lot of money in 'Axe' deodarant :)

kitchu said...

good one

Savitha Rao said...

I guess Axe is to men what fairness products are to women :) The analogy wrt to Politicians is equally applicable to Axe . They need truckloads of it to counter their stench. And the ad agency that makes them look appealing.

Anonymous said...

very well written, Savitha....after cricketers, it is the politicians' turn to apply fairness creams - Mitesh

Balu said...

It’s not fair
It’s not fair to say that politicians are the only people who are expert in masquerading.
Initially I wanted to stop my comments to just humor level, but later I decided I should express my thoughts on this subject.
We stigmatize everyone in the society – in someway
We say these taxiwallas are always like that,
Oh! These salesmen ….,
Sorry there is no question of empathy, he is a pucca businessman
That zamindari (landlords) attitude is still there in her blood
Don’t trust the lawyers
Beware of policemen
And this list goes on
That means everywhere the bad boys are there
I wondered why is it like that, I think that is the level to which we have so far evolved.
We are still in the process of evolving; the species (homo-sapiens) are not the perfect ultimate.

Savitha Rao said...

Hi Balu,

My point is by no means that politicians are the only ones masquerading. Or that all
politicians are bad.

I fail to see the connect of the comment with the post. I see your latest comment as an expression of your views independent of the posts of this blog