Star Plus- Nayi Soch...Naah

I came across a lovely ad from Star Plus yesterday. It showed Dhoni walking towards a press conference venue surrounded by journalists. They are intrigued to see Dhoni wearing the Indian jersey but with the name “Devki” on it and not the usual Dhoni. He clarifies that it is his mother’s name and when asked if there is any particular reason behind it, in typical Dhoni disarming style he replies “ I have been wearing my father’s name for so many years, then you never asked me ‘any particular reason’?” It ends up with the Star Plus tagline of Nayi soch.
Watch the ad here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZT7X9fv22E
The simplicity of the ad along with Dhoni’s charming rhetorical question lifted the ad to a new level. In today’s day and age when empowerment of woman has become a buzzword, an ad like this gives a new meaning and an impetus to the whole exercise. If Dhoni and in follow up films, the other members of the Indian cricket team are proudly flaunting their mother’s maiden name, they are not only paying a rich tribute to her but are also acknowledging the mother’s silent role in their own achievement. Breaking not only stereotypes but also shattering some cultural practices. And of course adding a lot of credibility to Star Plus philosophy of nayi soch, new thinking.
As I watched the ad I also realised that the ad was a missed opportunity. It is a great idea but unfortunately it has fallen prey to the lazy execution that Indian brands are often guilty of. Of feeling smug and satisfied for having cracked a good TV idea.
Now imagine this piece of communication playing out in real life. In one of the One day matches vs New Zealand, the whole Indian cricket team turns up in jersey’s sporting their mother’s name. All the cricketers. Including the support staff. Imagine the buzz it would have created. Imagine the chatter it would have raised. Now imagine a contest that Star Plus could have run during the match, inviting viewers to write in to solve the mystery of the names. It had the potential to overshadow the result of the match.
And then at the end of the match, at the presentation ceremony, Ravi Shastri asking Dhoni about the names. And now imagine Dhoni giving the same reply to Shastri.
Don’t you think the impact, the noise, the interest, the buzz and the far reaching effect would have been much more than the ad. This could have been a viral moment for women’s empowerment and for Star Plus as a channel. Not to talk about saving the film making costs.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not criticising the ad. I am just rueing a missed opportunity of not thinking beyond a TV ad.
Sure, doing a TV ad is easier. Getting to execute the idea with the Indian team would have required permissions from BCCI, maybe even ICC. But was it even tried? Did BCCI or ICC say no? I doubt it. With BCCI being under so much fire, this would have been a perfect opportunity for them to show their humane, non commercial face. In fact this would have been the best time for Star to pull it off.
As communicators we still think TV first. Because it is easy. Because it is controllable and because it is less hard work. So folks, next time you get an idea, remember it should be an idea. Not necessarily a TV idea.
Yes Star Plus, Nayi Soch. But unfortunately not in communicating it.

Do our soldiers deserve us civilians

The day India announced surgical strikes against Pakistan, I had gone to the Dehradun Airport to receive some guests. Having parked in the parking lot which is hardly 70-80 metres from the main building, I walked into at least 30-40 vehicles parked, all illegally in front of the main building. These were parked on both sides of the road, many even double parking. Almost half of these were the private taxis with yellow number plates, but the rest were all private vehicles, many with the occupants sitting inside the vehicles. What was more exasperating however, was the brazen flouting of rules, for I counted at least 4 big signages, some right next to these vehicles declaring the zone to be a no parking with a fine mentioned.
So I approached the CISF soldier who appeared to be the boss. When I enquired about the illegal parking he threw up his hands in despair. His complaint was that no one listens. And his soldiers who were armed with guns at a state of readiness, have got fed up asking the people to move the vehicles into the parking lot.
As if to demonstrate his point he went over to a car with two smartly dressed, middle aged gentlemen occupying the front seats. He politely asked them to move on but first they ignored him. When he became a bit firm, they simply rolled down the window and acted as if they did not know what is wrong in parking there. At this stage the CISF person told him clearly that this is no parking area, there is no flight that has landed, so they better move on to the parking lot. The response was typical. Why doesn’t he ask the others to move and what’s wrong in waiting at that spot. I was appalled at this behaviour of our aam admi and spoke to him firmly stating that this behaviour does not befit an educated person like him. Very grudgingly the gentlemen then made an attempt to move. Almost a similar story was repeated with 5-6 more private vehicles.
The taxi drivers were worse. With about 15-20 of them parked around, they were secure in numbers and were totally disdainful to the CISF jawans. The interesting thing is that the jawans cannot impose the fine mentioned as that is not under their purview. But the lack of respect for rules, the lack of respect for the CISF jawans who have been positioned at the airports for our security, the lack of respect for authority, was frustrating.
So why do we expect our jawans to do the dirty job when we do not give them any support? These soldiers, properly trained and armed have been stationed at sensitive places like airports for our security. Why should we make their job difficult by creating traffic snarls and crowds right next to the main airport building?
Our jawans definitely do not deserve this. Authority and discipline are his armour. How can we just strip him of the same? And then expect him to defend us! So on the day when most of us were thumping our chests at the bravery of our soldiers, there were many of us who were cocking a snook at him by not following some plain rules. We can do much better. Let’s not be selfish and demanding. Our soldiers make huge sacrifices. It’s time we too start making little sacrifices. Like parking in the parking area (for which no extra money had to be paid), walking upto the arrival area and standing and waiting for a few minutes.
Many of you may share this or like this. Before doing so, please promise yourself that you will make the task of our soldiers, our policemen, our civic workers much simpler by following simple rules. And you will get others to do the same. Otherwise we do not deserve our armed forces and para military forces and the police force and may I add, even our civic forces.