The Chicken Rules

This is something I have been intending to write for ages. Frankly, this is of no interest to the general readers who come to Chicken, or to Selective Amnesia. But of the few times I’ve raised this topic in forums and at agencies, I was asked to hush and keep quiet. If I don’t talk about this now, I will never.

Enough of a Preamble.
Advertising experts and gurus and clients and marketing executives and the all important client servicing people have a very favourite mantra – “The customer is not a moron”. Immediately after which, they turn, look down at the customer and proceed to talk to him or her in the simplest, most idiot proof language possible. Why do you want to purposefully dumb down your communication? Why would you want to say something as friggin simple and obvious as “A for apple” in your communication? Why would you want to put a picture of a fridge and say “This is a fridge. It is used to cool foodstuffs so they keep longer”?

I have a theory. Or at least, an opinion. I believe puns and clever jokes are more appreciated than they are made out to be. I have taken it as my personal mission to do advertisements that leave a little bit for the consumer who reads, sees or hears my advertising to connect up the little dots I leave and come up with the answer himself.

The entire Indian advertising industry is riddled with self-respecting (read: those who think too much of themselves) people who think advertising shouldn’t be clever. What’s the alternative? Dumb advertising?

My best kind of advertising is the one that doesn’t say it all, does not talk to the least common denominator (about which later) and has a little puzzle in the communication for the reader/viewer to decipher and come up with a solution. I think the involvement there would be higher, brand recall better, and you get to project an image of a peer, rather than the adviser/professor/big guy most indian brands project.

Since before I started working full time as a copywriter, I have had two people in the list-of-people-to-be-like list.

These two people, each in their own style, and their own way, have been great influences in my advertising career.

Mr. Bill Bernbach. And Mr. Neil French. This post is a tribute to Mr. French, who I consider probably the best writer in advertising still with full control of his faculties, and his sense of humour.

In advertising, one of the better pieces of advice is to “FLIP IT”. What that means is to turn a problem/solution/idea/line/situation over on its side to get at an idea that is both brilliant effective and memorable.

Volkswagen’s “Think Small” and the similar “We work harder because we are # 2” for Avis Rentals did the flip, and went on to become case studies and legends in the field of advertising.

A conversation I had with Ravikiran on the new Indian Airlines commercial is the basis for this post.

I am of the opinion that the ad sucks big time. And I don’t think I will change it anytime soon. But then again, I ain’t no expert, and so take this post with a pinch of salt. Or Krystal.

Charu, taking time off from her reflections points me to an Indian Express, (not rated high in my list of newspapers, though) story.

The story is about the return of the Green Devil, that lovable, brash little mascot/brand-ambassador/icon/mnemonic device of Onida, one of the better known Indian TV and Electronics Brand.

One of the best headlines ever written, Economist’s “I never read the Economist – Management Trainee, Aged 42” is the yardstick by which most business publications measure their ads on.

Err, test post