Tide on the kitchen shelf..

And then some more.

For instance, sun protection inside the ladies loo.

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[another in the series of things a mobile phone camera is meant for – and I need a better one surely]

I don’t know how to break this to you gently, Hindustan Lever – or the whiz media planner who thought of yet another spot to find the “captive audience” – but I am not thinking about six signs of sun damage when I am inside the loo at the theatre (no, not even at home for that matter). [Dear media planner, here is a handy tip for you because someone seems to have misled you – Imax does not have an open air loo. Really, you must believe me when I say that there is just no exposure to the sun when I am inside]

Yes, I am sitting and staring at the door, purely for lack of anything else to stare at, at that particular moment, but not because I am thinking about what the harsh sun is doing to my skin. No, believe me.

[While on this, please do me a favour and don’t ever ask me what I was doing thinking of blogging about this then]

And perhaps, it irked all the more because I had just spent a good(?) one and half hours with Kkrish, watching him drink Bournvita, telling the little kid how Bournvita makes him strong, how his grandmother always washes the glasses with Tide before serving him with Bournvita, and how Lays chips are the ultimate word in Bournvita-time snack. And how after washing the said glasses, his grandmother places the packet of Tide on the kitchen shelf next to gleaming brass and copper tumblers just so it is always in front of her eyes. And so on.

The point is this – what is it with companies spending good monies on product placements. How does it work? If it does at all? Oh, I know you are going to tell me about about how see, I remember all the brand names. But you must remember also that I am a blogger. And a market researcher and avid advertising industry watcher to boot.

And there was not much more by way of entertainment in the movie otherwise.

And then the welcome interval. And then the fairness cream (with sun control mechanism) in the loo. Enough already.

Merchandising, sure. Free gifts and promotion, surer [I know this because I did a mini poll among friends sitting in the neighboring seats about how their kids would respond to such blatant – to me atleast – endorsement in movies and was told that kids respond better to free gifts. Smart of them and so on]. But what does product placement do for the viewer? And repeated ones at that…

[More on this coming up – wait with bated breath. And oh, go drink Bournvita while you wait]

6 comments

  1. they should have a photo of the oh-so-fair heroine next to the mirror with a caption saying “are you as fair as this? if not, use fair and lovely or you won’t get a man like hrithik”

  2. well product palcement in the movies do get the necessary attention….what do u call it in ur advt. lingo?…”eye balls”….but i find them irritating….simply coz they distract me…and fairness cream in the loo…hey hey…maybe someone had to meet the targets of no. of posters pasted….who cares where?

  3. I’ve always thought that public loos are the best place for ads……

    Afterall, there’s usually lots of wall space, and while doing your job there, there isn’t too much else to do (no comics or crosswords for instance).

    But then, what products would you advertise in a loo?

  4. Hey Charu! 🙂

    Great post! Insightful and funny!
    For me, advertisements in loos don’t work! My mind will associate that product with the smell of a loo! Bad idea!
    Product placements in movies… some are blatant than others! And i am confused… if they show a disclaimer at the start of a movie that all things in the movie are fictional, then am i supposed to believe the advertising pitch? 😉

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