Sex sells

Sex sells. Sex is always there on people and that is what Advertising companies try to capitalize by trying to utilize “this appeal “to the hilt to effectively sell the product for the companies. There was a survey conducted by behavioral scientists where it was found that women are uncomfortable by and large by the blatant portrayal of sex. It is more of an internal paradigm shift where they have learnt to handle the portrayal of their ‘woman-hood’ to sell everything from cars to cement to houses to creams. They appreciate the subtleness rather than the exhibitionistic, brazen, titillating man-baiting USP which has become their bête-noire’. Mohan Pal Randhawa, a young Nri says, ‘woman want it.’
In the Asian society set-up women are taught or attuned to view their emotions as their strengths and this takes precedence over everything and they take it in their stride. They actually respond to a message that is authentic and real –warts and all more positively than a phony beautifully packaged one. Ofcourse, the men in our state disagree. They disagree to agree, always! Gurbinder Singh Anand, replies women are culpable they never want to be seen without make-up? They drive this industry.
Harminder Singh Dhillon, another person who was part of the online networking survey conducted On Facebook replies, ‘Advertising companies use beautiful female models to promote new and old products because this seems to be the best and proven formula since advertising started. I don’t know why they use females for irrelevant products. I guess it has to do so, with the me thing, with the subconscious relating to a product with a particular face. For eg:Liril with Karen Lunel, Anoosha Dalal, an dnow the latest Preity Zinta.
It is the impact on the mind, the image which is created and stays with the viewers which ultimately leads to the term brand ambassadors. It is this which leads to them being stereotypes and the journey of association starts. However as, Baljit Dhillon remarks,’ Most women used are beautiful, easy to the eye, and therein lies the appeal irrespective of the service they offer, be it the newscaster or the advertising model!”
The companies have spent crores of rupees in perfecting the kind of models which appeal to the consumers and cleverly hoodwink them into preferring the product. The models both are unreal to begin with- one is the sassy, sexy, confident, uber women who are all glossed up, wearing the right kind of brand clothes just off from the streets of London, NY with wild hair, voluptuous lips! The creators try to merge, marry the international look with the brand image. Both are avant-garde’ and appeal to India’s changing globalised outlook. This is a result of the after-effects of colonization, the Brits lest us but we still lust and hanker after the “gori-chamdi”!! It is a pity that this fuels another industry of cosmetics, skin –whitening products but that is another story, another day. Indian woman are always shown as North Indian, fair, urban and fairly unimaginative. Where did the dusky, real, believable, flesh and blood Indian beauty go?
Of course, the second type is the typical, stereotypical Kanta Bai, Lalitaji model. She is de-glamourised, has old principles and will fight for hew rights form the nukkad wala money lender. The last is the corny, romanticized, virginal Pati- parmeshwar types who is all dewy eyed. Advertising companies are given to over-dramatizing the tones, a mythological version is created when women are selling mobiles to washing powders to cars to cement, and the obnoxious Ax- deodorant. Where would one salivate over a chocolate –smelling deodorant? The ever present watch- dog of Indian morals, principles the censor board conveniently feigns ignorance or turns a blind eye while the overtly sexual deodorant ads make rounds. It is indeed a sad day when the companies resort to selling their mobile phones by showing a rugged man receiving condoms in return as change, as he owns the particular mobile!
Is this a shift and an affirmation that a new-age Indian woman with a new-age persona has finally become the westernized, woman with independence and freedom? Has she finally become a butterfly in the true sense of the word or is the chrysalis as shallow and phony as the advertisements which tease, promise but seldom deliver.