What I’ve Liked
And now… a techno mating call!
Talk about taking tele-communication to a whole new level! The new ad from Sony Mobile for its “AM/FM phone” takes a novel approach on two of the (perhaps) most used accessories by its target audience. The radio and the loudspeaker. Put two of them together and yes, you guessed right – you get a mating call option!
But seriously, the ad has a sweet storyline that taps into the Indian sensibility of Awaaz do or rather, of not doing anything quietly. And it proclaims it proudly too— in the sign off “I like my music loud”. Girl waits for boy who she thinks misses the train and as she sits sadly, boy who catches train at the last minute plays the radio in loudspeaker mode on his mobile and like a magnet, draws girl to him!
One wonders why he didn’t use the primary function of the instrument which is the telephone to let her know that he was there — but where is the romance in that? And we as a nation are all about getting emotional…loudly, aren’t we?
So as the train chugs on, past fields resonating with the music from the phone, the estranged pair is reunited to the heart-tugging strains of Main yahaan, Tum wahaan, from Jaawani-Deewani, a most appropriate choice of song. The ad most definitely scores high on imagination — the production values are good, the product usage comes through loud and clear (forgive the pun) the take out memorable…what more could an FM phone possibly ask for?
What I’ve Learned
Sometimes you get roughed up when you take the lead!
Recently in an Ahmedabad theatre, when the national anthem was being played, there was one gentleman who didn’t bother to stand up and be respectful like the rest of the theatre did.
A lady doctor who was in the audience was appalled at this and went up on stage and announced it to the rest, who immediately took him to task. It was a bold move on her part, borne out of her strong sense of patriotism…but she had to pay a price.
The papers continued to resonate for weeks after, with strongly worded protests of those who were vehement about her infringement on another person’s freedom, besides an equal number who supported her.
In another bold move borne again out of a strong courage of conviction, an NRI son requested an extremely noisy Ganpati procession to move on ahead after remaining stationary outside his home for half an hour. Any parent would be proud of a son like this, as he did it to protect his ailing Dad who was recovering from a surgery. The price he had to pay…he got roughed by the devotees!
Leadership is never easy. While failure frightens some people, mere apathy is the root cause of others not trying to do anything about the aberrations and injustices that constantly swirl around us. The greater crime is inaction. Try and fail – it is a better option, it is a nobler deed. As they say failure is a dress rehearsal for success.
M K Gandhi stood up for his rights in a South African train and was thrown out because of it. His comeback to that moment of failure was so phenomenal he was able to lead a country into throwing the offending nation out! He had tried…he failed, he tried again and changed the course of history! The going is never easy for those who have a strong sense of what is right and what is wrong.
If you don’t do anything about the wrongs, you are silently supporting it, and that makes you equally responsible for the crime as the perpetrators themselves. So who would you like to be remembered as? Apathetic and an accomplice to the wrongs around you, or a leader with battle scars who stood up for what you believed was right?
agkbrandconsult@yahoo.com.
For archives, visit www.agkonline.com
