Addendum

Addendum is a fortnightly column that takes a sometimes hard, sometimes casual, sometimes irreverent, yet never malicious look at some of the new or recent advertisements and comments on them.

A chumpy of a head massage

Any man who has had a haircut at the local saloon will agree that probably the best part of the experience is the last one-minute massage or “chumpy” the barber gives you. You really wish it wouldn’t stop, and you also fear for your delicate hair, your neck and your skull, all of which undergo a severe test at the strong hands of the obliging barber. Now scale that up. Assume you had really strong hair. What would be the best massage one could indulge oneself in? A really gorgeous, rough massage from a large gorilla? Or if one had to adapt it to suit the Indian work chumpy , you could have a Chimpy. Well that’s the general tone, mood and drift of the new TV commercial for JK Helene Curtis Park Avenue beer shampoo created by Publicis. Wonder why they featured a blond foreigner, though. Bet the foreign barbers never give a free chumpy . Or a free anything for that matter. Anyway, this blondie is shown escaping the confines of the boardroom to commune with nature and enjoy a proper gorilla massage. And he returns with his hair, and head intact. For the hair, he has the goodness of barley and hops packed into the Park Avenue Beer Shampoo to thank. For the head, well, that’s another TVC. I’m sure Bobby Pawar is working on it right now.

Welcome home, says your A/C

It’s the Great Indian Summer. The lucky people amongst us run from one comfortably air-conditioned space to another to beat the heat. Now Videocon introduces the Aryabot, an air-conditioner so advanced it hooks up to your smartphone, and knows, via a satellite link, when you are approaching your home. It then switches itself on so you never have to enter a warm room and sweat while it cools down.

And if that wasn’t enough, it switches itself off automatically when you leave, saves you electricity, has a port to accommodate a CCTV and even an alarm to wake you up. It has a self-diagnostic feature as well. And all this is conveyed to you in a graphics-filled film, where obviously the features are the heroes. No need for a human element. After all, machines are more reliable than frail human beings.

For all you gizmo freaks who can’t wait for the next intelligent machine in your lives, go out and whistle. The Videocon Aryabot will run in wagging its tail. Just kidding … that’s saved for the Aryabot Mark-2 …

All fine but for the beard…

If you are as old as me, you would remember the Zodiac man. No, I don’t mean the Babylonian Zodiac Man from the Middle Ages, but the picture of this big, immaculately dressed and groomed man, characterised by his manicured beard. Bal Mundkur ran Ulka advertising then. He was one of those legends of Indian advertising with a larger-than-life figure and a very “pucca” way of speaking English. So the Zodiac Man was created and he helped build the brand for Zodiac shirts and other accessories and ensured immediate recall. So I was very excited when I heard that the iconic Zodiac Man was being resurrected by FCB Ulka and Zodiac. The print ads for this re-birth are elegantly crafted and the products (linen shirts and jackets and such) look really nice. The photography of the “Zodiac” man is competently done. The model is a lean, fit-looking young man.

So why I am disappointed? I’ve been thinking, and I’ve got it. It’s the beard. No well-manicured black beard. It’s a shaggy long beard that I find difficult to associate with the Zodiac Man. But then times have changed. Bal Mundkur has gone where advertising legends go, Anil Kapoor is enjoying his retired life and even Ambi has donned an independent mantle. I guess a younger audience would look kindly on this and as long as they haven’t seen the original Zodiac Man they might learn to love this new character. As for me, I’ll stay with my happy memories!

Ramesh Narayan is a communications consultant. Mail your comments to cat.a.lyst@thehindu.co.in