Advertisers go bold with taboo themes

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A screen grab of the latest Fastrack ad which has gone viral on the Internet

As the flaps of a pink closet open, two young girls emerge out of it. Their dishevelled look and the glances they exchange narrate the story, while the commercial urges “Come out of the closet”. A popular watch and accessories brand Fastrack has come out with these edgy and bold television commercials that push the envelope in a relevant and spunky way.

The models are young and their expressions subtle. Yet they convey a lot. While the first of the three commercials tilt towards homosexuality, the other two suggest mischief and the concept of live-in relationships. The audiences seem to have liked the concept and accepted these ads. Their reaction could hint at a progressive mindset and that there could be new boundaries of the permissible. Whereas there are others who feel it’s just a passing drizzle.
Malvika Jain, who was a creative supervisor at Ogilvy & Mather, finds the ad to be a visual delight. “The ad was a pleasure to watch! Felt like a stolen moment. With Star World running day in and day out, Charlie Sheen expanding our morality, the Modern Family gay couple raising their daughter… Indian homes are slowly getting used to setting the dinner table with sex jokes and touching taboo topics. People are now accepting homosexuality. The tolerance levels are definitely broadening,” says Malvika.
Author and advertising consultant Milan Vohra admits that there will be the traditionalists who will say we are planting thoughts in the minds of impressionable young people but advertising has to sell a product.
She explains, “Products never sell if there isn’t a target audience connecting with the message. Product advertising almost always reflects the times it is created in and the target audience it is meant for. The boundaries have been constantly changing. But there is surely a difference between risque ads and ads that are trying to push the envelope and creating new boundaries.”
However, Anjana Basu, senior advertising consultant, adds that such ads are aimed at a certain percentage of the population which is liberal, Westernised and does not believe in moral policing. They also suggest that Indian women are equal to Indian men in sexual boldness, which may or may not be dubbed sexist depending on how you look at it.
“Brands reflect certain trends in society. Coming out of the closet is just one of those trends. Ads however don’t work to change social behaviour unless they are specifically social communication related. Civil society is more likely to target whitening cream ads which discriminate against dark skins or against vagina tightening gel ads supposed to make the user feel like a virgin. This particular work implies a quest for identity with no pretences, which is why it has found acceptance.”
“The campaign is very bold and I really liked it. It sort of empowers women,” says Ashok Row Kavi, one of India’s most prominent LGBT rights activists and adds, “But I would like to mention that these ads are there for the eyeballs. Nobody is actually bothered about the closet. The gays in advertising are really the pits.”