Much against my own wishes, I would have to stop posting on this blog for some time. And quite ironically, the reason for stopping the blog is same as that for starting it - exposing misinformation and half-truths.
This is how it connects.
About 6 months ago, I fulfilled a many-years-old dream of mine - to work in an advertising agency. I joined one of India's biggest and most respected (and envied) advertising agencies. While this had made me happy beyond expectations, it has also led to closure of this blog.
I have been told that I can't post about ads that my agency makes. Since I would myself be the most uncomfortable to expose some ads and turn a blind eye to some others, I have decided to stop posting anything new on this blog, till I am a part of the world of advertising. And knowing myself, that would mean "for a long long time".
Till then, all I can say is, don't believe everything you see and hear. So long!
15.11.07
Centre for Science in Public Interest
Something from the phoren lands
The 'Centre for Science in the Public Interest' is a Washington, D.C. based, FDA award-winning institute that works exactly what its name implies, in the field of Foods and Beverage products.
Here's a link to an article on its site about how companies use the liberty of language to make claims that fool customers.
A couple of them given here:
- A soft drink that burns more calories that it provides, is sold as something that controls weight.
- A cereal says it has the soft creaminess of yogurt, whereas what it actually has is yogurt powder.
A disclaimer here:
Given the source and its credentials, I don't think they would have erred on any of these findings. But unlike other information normally published on this blog that is verified first hand, these claims are not, hence I do not take responsibility for errors if any.
The 'Centre for Science in the Public Interest' is a Washington, D.C. based, FDA award-winning institute that works exactly what its name implies, in the field of Foods and Beverage products.
Here's a link to an article on its site about how companies use the liberty of language to make claims that fool customers.
A couple of them given here:
- A soft drink that burns more calories that it provides, is sold as something that controls weight.
- A cereal says it has the soft creaminess of yogurt, whereas what it actually has is yogurt powder.
A disclaimer here:
Given the source and its credentials, I don't think they would have erred on any of these findings. But unlike other information normally published on this blog that is verified first hand, these claims are not, hence I do not take responsibility for errors if any.
15.7.07
India Ad Review Issue 15: Lifetime Plans on cellphones
While this post is about a not-so-recent practice, the trigger is the new ad by Reliance Communications for their offer of Lifetime validity at Rs. 499.
Most GSM and CDMA operators in India have an offer about a prepaid service that gives lifetime validity, which basically mean free incoming calls for life. As with everything else, there are some "conditions apply" to this.
First, when a telecom company offers a plan with lifetime validity, the "lifetime" refers to the duration of the company's telecom licence, a meaning very different from a general understanding of the words "free for life" and "for a lifetime".
Second, even for the duration of the telecom operator's licence the incoming calls are not free for long. The subscriber has to recharge his account with a certain minimum total every few months for the connection to remain active.
For example, in case of Hutch in Mumbai, the connection remains active only if the subscriber recharges with a total of at least Rs. 200 every 6 months.
With all the conditions, I hope it requires less than a lifetime to figure out the exact benefits of these offers.
Read a similar post about playing with the word 'lifetime', by Siva at Biz Dews.
Most GSM and CDMA operators in India have an offer about a prepaid service that gives lifetime validity, which basically mean free incoming calls for life. As with everything else, there are some "conditions apply" to this.
First, when a telecom company offers a plan with lifetime validity, the "lifetime" refers to the duration of the company's telecom licence, a meaning very different from a general understanding of the words "free for life" and "for a lifetime".
Second, even for the duration of the telecom operator's licence the incoming calls are not free for long. The subscriber has to recharge his account with a certain minimum total every few months for the connection to remain active.
For example, in case of Hutch in Mumbai, the connection remains active only if the subscriber recharges with a total of at least Rs. 200 every 6 months.
With all the conditions, I hope it requires less than a lifetime to figure out the exact benefits of these offers.
Read a similar post about playing with the word 'lifetime', by Siva at Biz Dews.
2.12.06
India Ad Review Issue 14: Webdunia
This post will talk about a dot-com ad which talks about a huge potential market for advertisers. But surprisingly, it does not give any information about itself.
The dot-com is WebDunia and the ad is displayed below.
Among all posts on this blog on mis-information, this one takes the cake and the icing and the cherry on it. Reading the ad, one feels that WebDunia, combining its reach across the various languages it offers, reaches 24.6 million Indians.
Far from true.
The text after the asterisk says:
Source: Total Internet users in India are 60 mn - ITU survey 2006. 41% prefer Indian lang websites - Juxtconsult "India Online '06 survey"
Quite a far-fetched conclusion from the data. Lots of errors here:
* Webdunia is offered in some Indian languages, but not all Indian languages. So it is possbile that while an Internet user might prefer a language, say Bengali, Webdunia may not be available in that language.
* Also, while there are 24.6 million internet users in India, who prefer Indian languages, it is possible that some of them may not have even heard of webdunia.com. Some of those who are aware may have never logged on to the site, and moreover, some of those who have logged on, never came back.
So it is all left to the reader to understand what exactly is the benefit of advertising on webdunia. Hardly a good thing to do when some of the websites are ABC Electronic-certified and give concrete numbers.
The dot-com is WebDunia and the ad is displayed below.
Among all posts on this blog on mis-information, this one takes the cake and the icing and the cherry on it. Reading the ad, one feels that WebDunia, combining its reach across the various languages it offers, reaches 24.6 million Indians.
Far from true.
The text after the asterisk says:
Source: Total Internet users in India are 60 mn - ITU survey 2006. 41% prefer Indian lang websites - Juxtconsult "India Online '06 survey"
Quite a far-fetched conclusion from the data. Lots of errors here:
* Webdunia is offered in some Indian languages, but not all Indian languages. So it is possbile that while an Internet user might prefer a language, say Bengali, Webdunia may not be available in that language.
* Also, while there are 24.6 million internet users in India, who prefer Indian languages, it is possible that some of them may not have even heard of webdunia.com. Some of those who are aware may have never logged on to the site, and moreover, some of those who have logged on, never came back.
So it is all left to the reader to understand what exactly is the benefit of advertising on webdunia. Hardly a good thing to do when some of the websites are ABC Electronic-certified and give concrete numbers.
19.10.06
India Ad Review Issue 13: 7 Up Lemon Bite
If there was ever an award for fooling people, this ad for 7Up Lemon Bite would win it hands down.
The setting is that of a Dhaba, where a guy suddenly notices that lemons from all 'nimbu-mirchhi's hanging on the trucks there, are suddenly gone. The reason - Fido Dido, the 7Up icon, has taken all these lemons. He puts all of them in a glass, shakes it nimbu-sherbat-style and zap! The glass has become a bottle containing 7Up Lemon Bite.
The ad even ends with a truck-driver tasting it, finding it sour, and saying, 'Nimbu maar ke'.
Seeing the ad, the viewer would quite obviously think 7Up contains lemons. However, the fine print says something else...
"Contains no fruit. Contains added flavours."
So it's not lemons, it's just lemon flavour!!
Think any ad gets more misleading than this one???
The setting is that of a Dhaba, where a guy suddenly notices that lemons from all 'nimbu-mirchhi's hanging on the trucks there, are suddenly gone. The reason - Fido Dido, the 7Up icon, has taken all these lemons. He puts all of them in a glass, shakes it nimbu-sherbat-style and zap! The glass has become a bottle containing 7Up Lemon Bite.
The ad even ends with a truck-driver tasting it, finding it sour, and saying, 'Nimbu maar ke'.
Seeing the ad, the viewer would quite obviously think 7Up contains lemons. However, the fine print says something else...
"Contains no fruit. Contains added flavours."
So it's not lemons, it's just lemon flavour!!
Think any ad gets more misleading than this one???
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