Jul 03, 2015 04:51 PM
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We were taken for a ride, we are being taken for a ride and we will always be taken for a ride perennially, by one particular class of people. They are not punished by the government. In fact, some revenue accrues to the government if that class operates successfully. Even the opposition parties do not oppose that class. If the opposition becomes the ruling party, it too would benefit from this class. It is a different matter altogether that the ruling party leaders and the opposition alike take us all for a ride and that too, on a permanent basis. The media, particularly the TV channels, makes huge revenue from this class.
You must have guessed by now which classes of people are being referred to above. Yes, it is the ‘ADVERTISERS’ on Television channels. Barring one or two per cent of them, all others hoodwink us.
If you give a particular food drink, one ad claims, your kids grow taller and taller and and another claims that a particular detergent soap would make your stained clothes look even brighter than the new white cloth. ‘Daag achcha hai’(The stain is good) – because, the detergent can never remove it. If you use a particular tooth-paste, it makes your teeth and gums healthier, because it has “salt” in it. The same firm has so many other tooth-pastes without salt and we do not know what to do with them. One other tooth-paste claims to have three things in it, viz., tooth-paste, floss and mouthwash. How a tooth-paste can have floss in it is beyond anyone’s guess, but they go on advertising. If not today, one day, one weak moment, you will certainly accept it. Or at least, that is what the advertiser thinks.
When a man uses a particular perfume, the ladies in dozens(and also the other gender sometimes) fall flat for him. You can make the best use of a soft-drink to win over a girl, keeping at bay the other contenders. If you go for another soft-drink, you will make others also drink it and that too, with your money. None of us care to bother how ridiculous these suggestions are. Some popular film heroes resort to acrobatic adventures to snatch a small bottle of soft drink, which one can get at Rs.10. When one earns in billions, one should not be so miserly, I suppose.
If you take a tablet or capsule, your health and vitality will go on improving forever. We just ignore the fact that one sporting personality who said that had to go for treatment of cancer. A man suffering from piles is afraid of surgery to get rid of the problem and hence he goes to an Ayurvedic doctor. The doctor prescribes some medicine(Arsha kalpa). The old man continues to visit the doctor with the same complaint and the doctor relentlessly gives the same medicine each time. There are no indications as yet that the old man had been cured of the disease.
After eating a particular chocolate(5 star), two gentlemen become so deranged that they ask the tailor to cut and reduce the pants of their father into shorts. We laugh it out, but we never realise that the advertiser wants us to eat that chocolate and become so deranged.
And then, we have "Sandhi Sudha". Jockie Shroff, Rohini Hattangadi, Govinda et al promote it on Teleshopping. My wife suffers from knee problem(the doctors call it osteoarthritis) and I ordered for one over telephone. The next day, a man landed at my residence, delivered it, collected the money and left. She used it for three months and there was not a trace of improvement. It is an outright lie that the film stars say over television in teleshopping ads. In fact, all other teleshopping ads are as good only.
And there are those who ‘stone’ you to success, fame, prosperity and aristocracy. Yes, they sell the precious stones and ‘yantras’. They try to convince you that by spending a few thousands of rupees for buying a precious stone or yantra, you can earn in millions or even billions and shoot to fame the moment you wear them. As against the ‘actual price’ of say Rs.10000, they offer it to us for Rs.2999 – because they are so ‘considerate’ to us probably. In the hope of becoming a millionaire or a billionaire, we become poorer by a few thousands of rupees.
Amitabh Bachchan and Nagarjun say that Kalyan Jewelers are the best and others are no good. Madhavan advocates Joy Alukkas. SP Balasubramaniam says that Andhra Jewelers @ Naj are the best for Nelloreans(it is because the firm has no branches elsewhere). Tamanna prefers Khajana jewelers to the rest. Sowcar Janaki and Suhasini call CMR Shopping Malls-Chandana Brothers, Nellore the best, since they have been here for generations. Frankly, I never heard about those jewelers two decades ago. May be, they then had an elusive existence. Each one blames the others of cheating the public. These advertising firms appear to make no gain for themselves and the ads appear to be for the sole purpose of playing a spoilsport for the other jewelers. Since those who appear in these ads are all reputed, would it not be safe to assume that they are all saying the truth(one calls the other a cheat) and that all these jewelers are not worth the name? If there is a message, we have to take it.
This open cheating of the public continues unabated. The television channels say that they do not subscribe to the views or claims of the advertisers and that you only have to ascertain the genuineness of their claims before buying a product. The government pretends not to see this open looting of the public money.
But, we continue to watch the ads on TV and buy them. We may not believe that the products are as genuine as the advertisement claims, but we just try it out once. Seeing us buy it, others buy. And then, seeing others buy, we too follow suit. And the chain continues. And the ‘ride’ never ends.
