When I first chanced upon Red Handed’s blog, I remember having the feeling of hitting pay dirt. She does humor with a sassy, no-holds-barred attitude which makes for delightful, guffaw-worthy posts. Since then I have been hooked to her blog. She is a very popular blogger and deservedly so. I am delighted to welcome her to my blog on a topic that is funny and resonates personally with me.
My mother never delivered a lecture on the presence of DHA in Horlicks . Nor did she get a high on spotting the toilet pot sparkling white. Nor did she have the presence of mind to notice if a Vim Bar lasted a month or less and the same applies to the stickiness quotient of Yippy Noodle. The point is she never cared. Neither does any woman alive on the face of Earth.
Every time I see the woman on TV happily dipping a stained white shirt into a tub of soapy water and beaming on finding it jet white, I feel disturbed. When a woman screams out loud because she was able to clean a zillion utensils with a single drop of dishwasher liquid, I get angry and when a woman wipes off a tear because her daughter came first in class only because she recommended her the perfect sanitary napkin, I get frustrated. The truth is simple. We sincerely do not care about your little brand.
Too many expectations. Too many lies. From Everest Masala Powder to Annapurna Atta to Chaksons pressure cooker, they all portray women who live to make Pav Bhaajis & Choles, soft round phulkas or piping hot rice for the kid to take to school early morning. And ‘Taste Mein Best, Mummy Aur Everest’? That’s Cannibalism being promoted right there!
Why would you do this to us Dear Media? Or are you not aware of our truth? I have gone to the local supermarket with my mother and I have noticed the logic she uses behind the purchase of each and every commodity. Horlicks because her kids are used to it, liquid dishwashers over bar soaps with no affinity to a particular brand, Harpic not because a random celebrity came to our place for washing our yellow toilet but only because she got it in a combo offer and Pears over every other soap because she likes the fact that its transparent. Women don’t have the time to experiment on whether a particular soap is better than milk or if a peach turns brown when dipped in Body Lotion A instead of Body Lotion B. We have better things to do, like Gossip.
Or maybe it is because they find women Gullible. So gullible that a particular perfume that guarantees 1000 sprays used by a random hot body can make her leave the man she is with and sway towards this marinated man. Now there are two things to consider here, One, not even a jobless baboon would actually count if the spray bottle gave him 1000 sprays or less and Two, the only time a woman will wander away from her man is on the sight of a ‘Flat 50%’ board. Johnson & Johnson and Pampers need a special mention too. Time after time they display women rubbing their cheeks against their newly born while applying talcum powder of the little one’s bum. Where are the fathers? Why not show men taking care of their babies for a change? Fathers want to rub their sandpaper cheeks against their babies too!
The point is, stop expecting so much from us. As much as we love running a family, it is not the only thing we are destined to do. Our happiness quotient is not decided by the sponge that easily takes off the grease from the Kadai. We are beyond all that. We are like men, just supremely better.
So here’s a heads up. Every time you come up with an illogical woman-centric advertisement, go to your mother with a stained shirt and gently whisper into her ears ‘Daag Acche Hain’. She will take care of the rest.
Interesting post! and what a pleasure it is to see Red here on Rachna’s blog 🙂
Now about the post, While I understand the premise of this piece and agree with the way advts. work today… I don’t think women dont care at all. For e.g. when it comes to a liquid detergent soap, most women now which brand does a better job, of course through using different types. and once she knows that, she prefers that particular brand over others. The same applies to masalas and other condiments and groceries. About keeping an eye on how long your detergent lasts, I don’t think it has anything to do with being gullible, instead it has everything to do with capacity planning, so that you can fill up your inventory well in advance rather than go shopping at the last minute.. basically what I am trying to say that women do care just that the image advt.s create is to stereotypes and does not convey the right picture 🙂
Thank you for being the first to read. Maybe I wrote this post only from my mother’s angle or my view of it. It is true that the brand of masalas do matter a little bit or the capacity of washing too much with a single drop of liquid dishwasher, but does that make us excited beyond measure? Is that what our lives revolve around? That is all I am trying to say. 🙂
Thank you yet again!!
hehehe, no it def. does not… and the ads do go overboard I agree :)… but I do think women in general care about what they use and how efficient and good those products are 🙂
I do agree to that 🙂
Well! I do buy the same brands …mostly because of familiarity. Just that I prefer to buy when there is an offer. I stock up like that 🙂
Ads go overboard because they want things to be noticed. A normal looking tee soaked in Ariel and coming out clean will not create the dramatic effect na! Actually everything on television goes overboard to get noticed. They will make movies only on people who would die for love and not people like us who will say ‘ok whatever, go to hell!’.
haha we do love offers!!! Yup its true, noone will actually buy products that are not advertised in blings and everything dramatic. I have never got my hair shine and look like the way they show in the Pantene Advertisements. 🙁
LOL true…None of the celebrities come to my mind when I buy stuff for my home. I wonder how many people actually bought slice mago juice just because Katrina Kaif got an orgasm while drinking it ? 😀
Maybe my brother buys slice because he is really that obsessed about Katrina!
Advertisements are getting overboard!
haha Well Red Handed and Rachna together what more I need to start my day after my new manager sends mails about my sleeveless top!! Anyways not to digress… I agree 100% to what you say here..After reading this I’m reminded of the MTR ready to eat add. with a woman shown going from one family member to another asking for their breakfast menu and that annoys me so much…As if we women have nothing else to our existence!
I am humbled by your comment. Thank you for reading you know. How did I not think about the MTR Ad!!!!!!!!
Thanks, Naba! Seriously, that MTR ad is infuriating.
Ads irritate me. We are portrayed exactly like the lady in the pic you used. Waiting excitedly to complete a household chore. As if that is our soul’s purpose, to be a servant for life to every single member of our family and extended family.
Thumps up red handed… Well written.
Thank you so much for reading and knowing the true intent behind this post 🙂
For many years now I have stopped watching TV (only use TV for watching DVDs etc.). So I get to watch these commercials only occasionally, say when I visit other people’s homes or when I am traveling and staying at a hotel or something. So I am mostly unaware of the latest advts, but am not surprised that the same stereotyping that used to be there many years ago still continues when it comes to commercials for detergents, soaps, shampoos, fairness cremes, home appliances, you name it. Red’s guest post here does a very good job of pointing out some of the nonsense that happens in the name of advertising. And one wonders really who are these women who get so thrilled at seeing a spot-less white shirt! Me – I am just happy that finally the laundry is done!
A highly enjoyable read 🙂
hahhahahahaha the line ‘I AM JUST HAPPY THAT FINALLY THE LAUNDRY IS DONE’..so true!! Thank you for reading!!! 🙂
I am so glad that Rachna was kind enough to give me this awesome opportunity.
I stumbled upon Red Handed’s blog only very recently and I echo your thoughts about her Rachna. Hillarious but highlighting the necessary points. This was yet another one. I completely agree with each of her arguments. From the time you switch on the Idiot Box to the time you switch it off, you’ll hardly find any product being showcased by a man. Of course, yeh andar ki baat hai, for some wild reason was endorsed by a male. What are your views about Kareena ke sir ka dandruff and Aishwarya’s Prestige Pressure Cooker? Don’t know why collar pe rumaal is always amma ka kamaal and not abba ka dhamaal. Don’t know why they believe that pitaji ko money order bhejne ke liye a housewife has to depend on detergent par chipka bachat coupon. Simply misleading themselves I would say. Because aam janta rushes off to finish important chores when they play such stupid ads on television. Being a homemaker I can vouch for the fact that my monthly provision shopping depends on how much I can save based on the offer at Big Bazaar or a Sabka Bazaar or a Reliance Fresh and no single ad maker can force me into believing that my baby’s bottom can smell lavender fresh so much that I’ll rub my cheeks against them. Eeeeekkk!!!
Oh my God! If I could, I would remove my post altogether, and simply copy paste your comment in that place. WHAT CLASSY COMMENT! I laughed!!
LAVENDER FRESH BOTTOMS…Ughhhh!! We are too cool to be influenced by brands..The money in the pocket and a familiarity with the quality of something is what we go after.
Thank you sooo much for reading!
I completely loved your comment, Rekha! The ads showing women are rarely intelligent leave alone realistic. Thanks so much for reading and sharing!
Oh nice! The illustrious Red makes an appearance on the “victorious” Rachna’s blog (Sorry Rachna, I am slightly envious about your victory run this year. Deservedly nonetheless, but envious too 😛 Oh, and many many congratulations on your latest win too) Jokes aside, I agree with your intro of Red, Rachna. The way she tackles stereotypes and other points is just plain hilarious. But I must admit, this post has a rather serious touch to it. Of course whatever she has highlighted has to be ….but I wasn’t guffawing as much.
But coming back to the topic, it’s just how marketing has turned out to be right. I mean, there are hardly any commercials that make sense these days. And yes, most of us (and women in general) have their own reasons to buy stuff. So the advertising – I don’t think it works. But then again, I have heard well-educated people say I buy that because I am in love with SRK. So, I guess there are these brand-obsessed people too 🙂 Nice post Red and glad to see you here on Rachna’s blog.
You are kind and Rachna was supremely kind too with her introduction!!
Yes this post wasn’t humorous. I tried making it serious but it ended up hanging somewhere in the middle. Sigh!!
Thank you sooooooooooo much for reading!!
Thank you, Sid, for the wishes. I appreciate both your appreciation and honesty. Yes, this has been a good year, and I am very grateful! Yes, I agree that the post is more serious than Red’s usual posts but I quite liked it and related personally to it. Her last words are hilarious. Daag are never achche for any mom :-). Thanks for reading!
RACHNA deserved a different colour of red. And she was so kind to accept this one! 🙂
Hahaha, thank you so much Rachna for getting Red to do this! 🙂
Oh dear Red,
You are simply awesome. Cannibalism? ROFLMAO.
Advertising is just selling. With or without logic. Remember that guy who sued Axe deo’s when women did not jump on him from everywhere? Or that lady who gets an orgasm as she washes her husband’s soiled chaddi? Yeah, something like that.
I do love the new set of Havell’s ads though. Very nicely done.
Thank you so much LEO!!!!!! I am so glad you read.
There you said it ‘ADVERTISING IS JUT SELLING. WITH OR WITHOUT LOGIC’
It is quite sad how the media looks at women!
Thanks so much, Soumya. It is my pleasure to have Red over.
Red, only you could have thought this and written this. May I also add, a diaper that drinks more litres of pee neither makes the mothers glow with motherhood nor the babies smiling like angels. It only makes them look like they are carrying a huge huge baggage between their legs and on their bums too. And then, frustrated, you scream about potty training, not lay them on the bed and spray powder on their bums.
Loved the wit, the point you are making and how you painted Rachna’s blog a bright Red, Thanks for having her over, Rachna.
hahahahah I am now imagining all the kids walking with weights attached to their tiny bottoms. Bwahahah!!!
I am so happy that you read this one! Rachna was kind enough to let me write here!
Thank you, Sakshi! It was completely my pleasure.
There you go preempting about five or six of my prospective “Ad Agonies” posts in one, Redhanded! Wish you would not be so profligate 🙂
And, Rachna, I am not the only one who goes serious on your blog 😛
hahahah…I am so sorry about that!! But I am sure you still have some idea hidden in your kitty!!!! So glad you read!!
I know, Suresh! Looks like the bug got transferred to Amit, you, Rickie and now Red :D. Thanks for reading!
Bang on! We buy things because of reasons which sadly, they don’t even care to notice. And combo offers are one of the biggest reasons I buy things in supermarket.
And Red, people like you make us feel less talented. You are too good. 🙂
They truly do not care and how sadly so!
I have no talents…I cannot spin poems the way you do. You make it look so easy!
Some of the Ads are very irritating and most of them are misleading.
You perhaps know,technically,the models who appear in thenAds have been advised to be sure of the msg they are delivering as they could be held responsible should the product doesn’t work as it should
And yet they deliver the msg..not even sure if it works. My grandfather used ‘FAIR AND LOVELY’ till his last breath. And he was dark like the night sky. But one handsome man!
A big red handed fan!! Superb post as usual 🙂
How supremely kind 🙂
Hehehe….This is Red in style…I love her humor too for the few posts that I have read of her. I too never understood some ads…I still remember the very first Ariel ad in which they soak a leaf stained cloth in ariel soap water. And as kids, we did experiment it too 😛 That itself needs a post. And there were many products which I bought seeing these ads…so, why call them stupid when I myself am stupid..;)
But I am sure u have evolved now..hehehhah..We all had our innocent days..But now we know! 😀
Thank you so much!
Horlicks ho ya aur koi brand , all r the same. Only flavours differ and that’s what the consumers are interested.
Everest Pav-bhaji masala will never be endorsed by a man. Why?
Beer will never be endorsed by a woman. Why are these sterotypes created even in the advertising fraternity ?
and if someone tells me that ‘Daag acche hai’ , I will riposte , “Daag sirf ad mein acche hai” .
Seriously I want an ad were a woman is endorsing beer ..but not as some sexual object..but just a woman that she is!
And daag…mummy ko toh add mein bhi acche nahi lagte. 😀
A very interesting and brilliantly written post on tricks and gimmicks played by so-called “creative minds” from the advertising world. They may have “great creative faculties” but certainly have stereotyped mindsets which limits and restricts their thinking in a 19th century cage. Though the advertising industry universally thinks and works on similar lines, but in India situation is worst because we don’t have any mechanism to set standards and benchmarks.
True…women are seen as sexual objects…running behind men with perfumed bodies…or licking lips tasting SLICE mango juice.
Thank you for that insightful comment.
Hahaha! This was too good Red!
*goes and has Chyavanprash so he can run and catch the bus*
How could I forget about that advertisement. SIGH!!
Thank you 🙂
Judging by the comments to this post, it feels good to know that I am in sane company which believes that almost 99% of the ads on the TV nowadays seem to cater to the ‘lowest common denominator’ of people as far as stereotyping women goes 🙂
You said it. Lowest common denominator indeed. Rarest of the rare case actually!!
Thank you for reading!
Delightful post Red. I too buy products because I am used to them. I change the brands because I want to try something new…after using the new brand, I again switch to the old one. Some times I buy a particular brand because it is priced less than the other bands for the same product. There is definitely no logic sometimes….just like why we like gossip or why we fall in love!
The media is glorifying women into something they are not.
Rachna, thanks for this treat.
Hahha that was a lovely comment. No logic behind the reasons why we buy certain products indeed!!
We are being misinterpreted by the media!!
Thank you for reading!
janu, My pleasure!
Loved this post, RH and Rachna!! Spot on with all the observations and views! I remember a Dove ad where they said that they asked women to use Dove on one side of the face and their regular soap on the other side. And I was like who is more, insane the brand or these women! The reality is very different from what is shown in advertisements!
Thank you so much for reading!! DOVE advertisement is supremely ridiculous. We are not like that..
I read her blog and I do admire what and how she writes .. awesome posts a lot of them ..
right coming ot this post well the only ad’s that excite me are from TESCO or ASDA or SAINSBURY .. when they come and announce .. Alcohol at HALF price 🙂 buy Any three for 24pounds .. he he he he This one came yesterday night .. special offers .. and yes FOOOOOOOdddd… 🙂
right now you can Shoot me down but watch it your blog title says RED-HANDED so wait dont shoot .. hands already Red .. why make is more redder 🙂
and also on a different note WHY expect from Moms or wife’s .. Why not Help them use that product and doing the washing with them 🙂
ok ok I better get lost because I have completely lost the plot here …
ps. Rachna :- I dont get notifications on the posts anymore.. not sure why .. 🙁
Bikram, can you try and subscribe again? Don’t know what the problem is :(. Hehehe And I should have known about liquor and food. I am sure the ads don’t matter at all :).
hahah why will I shoot someone sooo adorable!! The only I get influenced by advertisements is when it is about food !! YOU SAID IT!!!
Glad you read this one 🙂
When I see some of the ads I think that in 30 years, the women have traded their cotton saris for designer kurtis but the mentality remains the same! ! Apparently, we’re still obsessed with the cleanliness and decor of our house, the height and intellect of our kids, the shimmer of our gold and the number of dishes we can prepare in a single sitting! Who knew? !
So true…we are still the washerwoman or the house maid according to media. Stereotyped through the ages. If only they looked beyond all that.
Thank you for reading 🙂
Fantastic Red-handed ! That was right on dot ! I have forgotten the number of moments when I sit through these ads clenching my teeth. The soap powder ones are the worst. Which stereotypical females are they targeting ? Less we talk about the deo ones, the better.And the L’oreal one.. which says – Because you are worth it ? For crying out loud, since when did a woman become worthy of a brand.
hahahahaha I never thought of the Loreal one like that. Hhahah now everytime I see the advertisement, I will think of you.
Thank you soooooooo much!
That was hilarious.:DUff these ads make you feel as though you are a lesser woman if you do not care about the stains on the floor or if you are not obsessed with your boy’s(never a girl’s) height or a woman who does not do gymnastics during her period.
hahahaha so true.. I always wonder how come they believe that women in periods suddenly want to jump fence and climb walls wearing white shorts. I mean seriously!!!!
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