Fair is Foul and Foul is Fair

What are the odds?

The Hindu's Sunday Magazine has an article by Sriya Narayan, which is about how India became the first South Asian country to ban testing of cosmetic products on animals. It is a heart wringing piece, which goes into the details of how testing affects the animals in question. It almost made me want to swear off cosmetics. 

I say almost, because even the most basic sanitation products fall under this category – soaps, shampoos and conditioners. It went on to say that the evolved and educated Indian customer should email the company, in case the products they retail don’t have the Leaping Bunny insignia, a symbol for non-animal tested products. Let’s face facts. We are a nation of bargain hunters, and we don’t question the origins of a product. That aside, what I object to most in this article, is the use of the word ‘evolved’ before the word customer.

The Indian Advertising Industry has proved time and time again, with their blunt and thoughtless campaigns, that we are a bunch of television viewing idiots. When we shop, we leave our brains out of the decision making and wear our hearts on our sleeves. If a good looking actor wearing a bright yellow or pink noodle strap dress, tells us that this product will save our marriage, face or careers, we buy both the product and the argument. 

At a party last month, I met a diplomat from the Caribbean who had just moved to India. While his Asian wife and two daughters were trying to deal with the initial hiccups of the shift, he as a father was worried about something else. An hour- long TV show in India has a minimum of four commercials that advertise skin whitening products, he told me. This was a matter of concern, because he imagined that it wouldn't take long for his daughters to suggest that he start using a men’s fairness cream. And yes, we do have commercials for men's face washes and creams, with lead actors going to war about the effectiveness of their ‘fairness’ product.

Two tones fairer, now that's something

“I’m worried that my little girls will grow to be ashamed of their dark-skinned father," he said. “I considered writing a letter to the complaints department, but decided against it, because I am very new to the workings and systems of this country.” We understand sir. You belong to an ‘evolved’ society which takes pride in the diversity of its people. While we continue to look up to our ‘fair’ colonisers, even as they insist we pay dreadfully high security deposits for travel visas.

The last time I checked a certain Bollywood actor, who is known for her fitness regimes and diet plans, asks her boyfriend if he would continue to love her 'when' she becomes fat. And fat she will soon become, considering she 'cheated' on her diet and ate a deep fried something from his plate. He nods an affirmative, but just in case things turn nasty, Bipasha Basu decides to add warm water and honey to her daily routine. The voice-over in the ad say, ‘It is not just about him loving you; it is also about you, loving yourself!’ And now we have weight obsessed teenagers and couples going through a midlife crisis, making a beeline for Dabur honey. After all, love (even self-respect for that matter) is directly proportional to weight gain.

Save your love life

And have you seen that ad which has actor Mammootty offering a job to a beautiful candidate? He asks her if she had applied for the job earlier and then revelation strikes. “You changed your soap!” he says. Implying in no subtle language that confidence goes hand in hand with fair skin; which will then materializes into a job, the dearth of which is strongly felt in that State, which boasts of high literacy rate. Of course this is just one of those many advertisements which suggest that lady luck is selective about whom she smiles at. Hitler would be so proud if he knew that all of us brown Indians, are trying to live up to his Aryan dream of fair skin and maybe, blues eyes.

Did you change your soap?

So no, we don’t belong to a nation of ‘evolved’ customers. We don’t care if the bunny leaps or not. What we want are soaps, creams, face washes and honey, which will guarantee us love and/or a career. 

A word of advice to my Caribbean friend; even if you were to write letters or scream from the rooftop until you are hoarse, advertisements made for dummies, won’t change in the near future. But you can press the mute button during commercial breaks. So please don't hesitate to exercise that right. 

PS: Not all commercials are in bad taste. Some make me smile at their cleverness and I wish I was involved in the making of certain others.