Kalpana
The world of liberalisation and globalisation has given birth to unsatiable consumerism. ‘Use and Throw’ is the slogan of the times. Things have to be sold. Selling gives money. And money makes the more go. One good commercial advertisement is worth more than hundreds of salesman. Such is the importance of advertisements in industry, trade, commerce and business. It is no exaggeration that on TV we have more ads than news. After every few minutes a ‘break’ is announced. And then starts a flood of commercial advertisements. You find the Shahanshah of Bollywood, Amitabh Bachchan selling Binani Cement. Then comes the ‘Badshah’ telling you to use ‘Fair and Lovely’ for your bright complexion. And our glittering damsels of Bollywood can’t be left behind. Ash sells L’Oreal; Katrina patronises ‘ Veet’ and Priyanka and Karina settling for ‘Bajaj Scooty’ and ‘Boro Plus’ respectively. News and features have become secondary. We have more adds than features or events.
TV, cinema, newspapers, magazines are full of advertisements. Ads are trend and style setters. Millions are earned just for a commercial advertisement of a few minutes! If things are to be sold then you can’t avoid patronising commercial advertisements. They are the lifeline of trade, business and the media.