Saturday, July 30, 2005

A(a)d(i) A(a)d(i)

Step into a textile showroom anywhere in a city in Tamil Nadu this time around and you'll be overwhelmed by the fanfare there. And especially if you are from another state, you'll be bowled over just by the ambience. Its "Aadi" Sale and people try to cash in on what is being offered this time around. Or so they say. But its really the shops that make the most of the common man's mindset. Something is offered for free... what do we do??? You guessed it right... That happens on a large scale here. By the way, just go about asking a section of the people how their "Aadi" shopping was, a month or two later, most of them would end up cribbing!

After all too much is being made up in the name of "Aadi" sale. And the effort put in to rake in people is minimal. Quite simple as well. Rope in a film heroine who has had a good round oflate here in Kollywood, write the worst possible lyrics, shoot a song, advertise discounts. And boy! you find people all over the place. And the hype is extended a month or more before and after "Aadi". One shop has it this way... "Aadikku munthaya arpudha thallupadi". After that its "Aadi" and if they have leftovers perhaps we'll have one more round christened "Aadikku pinthaya aavesa thallupadi"! Not to blame the shops, its the people who are so foolish in being carried away. Of course the best example of people being fooled with elan is "Akshaya Trithiyai". Simple strategy man!

Coming back to the way the ads are shot, almost every shop follows the same thing. None of the famous film songs are spared. They will take care to ensure that you hate the original. And recently, the famous "Maalai Maatrinal.. Kothai Maalai Maatrinal" has been tampered with by a shop and its crap of the highest quality. A flurry of similar ads go blaring on the FM and TV. And to top it all, one of these ads is aired in Telugu at around 8.40AM. I can never forget this particular one. We'll be enjoying a tasty breakfast in the food court when this ad will tell us "Hey, enough... get back to work before your PL steps in or you'll be in for worser stuff!!..." :-)

Huh... afterall when somebody is there willing to be fooled around, monkey business is bound to flourish. Let me end up with my favorite quote... "Long to reign over us, God Save the King!"

1 comment:

Vijay Krishna Narayanan said...

This idea of 'aadi' discounts is becoming quite a farce. It is so stupid, one wonders why people still fall for it.

I saw a simple yet powerful 4-line ad by Nalli Silks:
Oil-free pooris.
Summer without mangoes.
Discounts at Nalli.
No discounts since 1928


That was a stand-out. I resolved then that if I ever went out shopping for silk, I wouldn't go anywhere else!