I was dreaming for sure. It was an Arabian dream. Like a Sindbad story. At least the background music sounded like that. First it was a painting, then it turned into a lake in Kashmir where an immaculately designed Chinese monster and her immaculately designed baby were terrorizing the wits out of two innocent oarsmen on an immaculately designed ship. (this is what happens when a design agency makes a commercial)
First the monster picks one of them up and feeds him to the baby. The baby monster chokes! (like you choke on fine Kashmiri silk). Worried, the monster looks around to find a Bisleri bottle in the other man's hand, she snatches it and helps the baby gulp down the man! The baby is saved, and instead of eating the other man, blows kisses at him!
Now I am choking on a lot of questions.
1] If you choke on food, get saved, you still would like to eat the rest of it, wouldn't you? Or would you kiss the remaining food?
2] The monster lives in water, but looks around for water! (Always mineral water for the baby, remember?)
3] Monsters, according to popular belief, are much larger than the men or the boat, but a mere liter of Bisleri (should measure a teardrop in proportion) is enough to save the choking baby!
4] Ah, lets give it a rest, shall we? after all, it was a dream.
The only thing real was the brand, but once the communication enters the unreal space, it shuts out all critics.
This splash of creativity hit me in the face and woke me up from my dogmatic slumber! Maybe this is what quenches the thirst of the new generation, makes them laugh, makes them like the cute monsters (or write a post or tweet about how chweet all this is and say things like, 'dude, this is the shite'), and by some well researched form of subliminal persuasion makes them also think positively about the brand and eventually ask for a Bisleri (they do that already, don't they? And peacefully walk away when they are handed an Aquafina instead!)
"But look at the styling, the character design", a friend from another design agency told me. "We are defining the 'brand space' nowadays, and man, its going to look so stunning!"
But the consumers are oblivious to this. They don't know how to stay protected from all this blitzkrieg. Maybe the creative strategy is to stun the viewers, just like those two poor men, so that they don't reach for the remote.
Sigh. I miss the good old days... I am on a week long fast against this, and this time I am not even going to drink water - mineral or otherwise.
Jai Walt Disney. Jai Hind.
- Anna
