India Advertising Blog

Great Advertising: Amul Macho — Now, Is There A Law Banning Vulgar Orangutans?

by Vinaya HS on June 3, 2008

in India Advertising Blog

Background: And When We Do Create Great Advertisements, The Government Bans Them.

So, how does a creative team overcome the Information & Broadcasting Ministry’s definition of vulgarity? By employing Orangutans…



Refreshingly great advertising in a world full of lame advertisements. The creative team behind this ad deserves an award!

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Lame Advertising: Motorola’s Moto Yuva W230 — Seriously, This Is Not The Way To Make Your Shareholders Happy

by Vinaya HS on March 22, 2008

in India Advertising Blog

Three months back, we analyzed why Motorola’s shareholders were a unhappy lot. The trend continues with another honestly lame ad:



If you hold Motorola shares, would you as a shareholder approve such cash-burning efforts by management? On a broader note, what’s the message Motorola’s conveying to the Indian youth?

Finally, here’s a great opportunity to see a lame advertisement dissected. Just use the form below to submit what you think is a lame advertisement. I’ll grab the ad and dissect it for you.

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Tweets on 2008-02-08

February 8, 2008

At the end of this Maruti Suzuki WagonR ad, she actually wanted to say: Lame. Very lame.

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Lame Advertising: Lux Crystal Shine — When Personal Fantasies Come In The Way Of Advertising Part #2

February 6, 2008

Advertisements for Lux soaps and personal fantasies seem to go hand in glove. We’ve already seen Part #1 that features “a bathtub tethered to a hot-air balloon with a soaped-up model (who’s obsessed with the lather but doesn’t give a damn to much else) inside it and Aishwarya Rai with a rope clipper in her [...]

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First Impressions: The Skoda Fabia — A Quick Review

February 1, 2008

Please tell me that’s not a Maruti Swift beaten up in a few places. The ad does a brilliant job at hiding a proper side-angle view of the Fabia. Because when seen from the side, it looks exactly like the Swift. What do you think?

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Lame Advertising: Hero Honda Hunk — The Bulls Had Only One Question On Their Minds

January 29, 2008

The bulls had only one question on their minds: WTF are we doing in this ad?

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Lame Advertising: Videocon — This Is How We Fund Our Lame Advertisements That Feature Multi-Crore Demanding Celebrities

January 26, 2008

Videocon first burns shareholders’ money in creating this meaningless and irrelevant ad. And when it’s time to cut that multi-crore check to each of the multi-crore demanding celebrities, they unleash this lame scheme on the public. Maano Ya Na Maano! Pay just Rs 12,990 for the Jumbo 34 Flat TV and deposit a sum of [...]

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Lame Advertising: Barclaycard — So, Who’s Exactly In Control Here?

January 16, 2008

This brilliant ad from Barclays Bank for their credit cards would like you to believe that you are in total control. However, dig deep and you’ll find this: Barclaycard Gold Card Our fee free for life Gold card gives you simple options to tailor the card to your needs. Choose between a minimum monthly payment [...]

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Lame Advertising: Hyundai i10 — We’re Taking This Car On Its Last Rites

December 29, 2007

Listen very carefully to the background music. Don’t you think it sounds as if the i10 is being taken on its last rites? At the 35th second of the ad, although the hot model says “I wish I could catch it,” she actually means “I wish I could get out of this advertisement.” And the [...]

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Lame Advertising: Hit Insecticide — Taking The India vs. China Game To New Lows

December 7, 2007

Do we need this when we know this? … the Chinese banks have an enormous volume of bad loans — $911 billion at May 2006, according to a later-withdrawn estimate by Ernst and Young, which must surely have ballooned to $1.2-1.3 trillion now. That explains why China Investment is somewhat un-aggressive in its international investment [...]

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Lame Advertising: Motorola’s Moto Yuva — No Wonder The Shareholders Are Unhappy

December 5, 2007

If you run a mobile phone company and broadcast your wares with such lame advertisements, especially in a market considered to be Mecca of the telecom world, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that your shareholders are unhappy. Read: Motorola Replaces Chief With an Insider. Said the dissident shareholder Carl C. Icahn, I believe that [...]

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Lame Advertising: Videocon — A Complete Waste Of Shareholders’ Money

December 3, 2007

The first time I saw this ad, I felt worse than a toad on a frying pan. This is the third straight lame advertisement from Shah Rukh Khan (see the first and second). Given his unsatiated fetish to endorse anything non-living, he’s got to quickly reposition himself as the “King of Lame Advertising.” I found [...]

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Lame Advertising: Fanta — What Happens When You Consume The Actual Product While Making An Advertisement For That Product

November 24, 2007

This is another ad that freezes up my neurons (but not as much as the Airtel ad, which makes me feel like a toad on a hot pan) and is a great lesson on why you should not consume the actual product while making an advertisement for that product. Drinking too much Fanta probably screwed [...]

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Lame Advertising: Savera Mustard Oil — When Personal Fantasies Come In The Way Of Advertising

November 19, 2007

Do I need to say more? I haven’t actually seen this advertisement on television. Must be one of those crazy ads that are inserted at the beginning/middle/end of rented movie VCDs. Related Post(s): Lame Advertising: Lux International – When Personal Fantasies Come In The Way Of Advertising.

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Lame Concepts: Amway — Have You Been Prospected?

November 17, 2007

Amway’s multi-level marketing scam is alive and kicking in Bangalore. A close friend V recently experienced a “recruitment attempt” by an existing smooth-talking Amway distributor/prospector/agent/whatever at The Forum Mall. S tells me that the situation is no better in the United States of America. She’s experienced a “recruitment attempt” just days after landing in the [...]

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Lame Advertising: Airtel — My Neurons Are Frozen

November 13, 2007

Each time I see this ad, a couple of my sense organs stop sending messages to my brain for a few minutes. There’s certainly no doubt that advertising in India is surely headed down an abyss. But what about corporate management? I wonder who at Airtel approves these ads for broadcast? What do you think?

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Lame Branding: HCL Leaptop — When Branding Fails To Keep Up With Advertising

November 8, 2007

When I first heard about HCL’s Leaptop range of laptops, I had this to say: You don’t know who’s embarrassed more — you for possessing a Leaptop or your friend for asking you what’s a Leaptop. I don’t know about you, but I already feel like Leaping from the Top. Fast forward a year and [...]

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Lame Advertising: Acer — Why You Shouldn’t Believe What Hrithik Roshan Sings

November 7, 2007

I am not a fan of Acer laptops (see here and here) although I own one — unfortunately. I couldn’t help but find and publish this advertisement featuring Hrithik Roshan singing praises about Acer products. It’s glaringly obvious that Hrithik Roshan has never booted up an Acer laptop in his life. He wouldn’t be singing [...]

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Lame Advertising: Air Deccan — One Thing That Didn’t Go Right After The Purchase

October 24, 2007

A one rupee coin, flying chocolates, a flying watch, and a flying signpost — who would have guessed that this was an Air Deccan ad? Till the end, I actually thought this was a Vodafone ad and was wondering where did that mutt run away — for it’s own good. Randomly inserting a child, a [...]

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Lame Advertising: Bajaj Pulsar 200cc — Why Show Me Everything That I Can’t Do With This Bike?

October 23, 2007

At the end of this advertisement, I am thinking “Ummm…Can I actually ride this bike on the road?” And what’s the whole point in showing all kinds of stunts with an ever present “Performed by experts. Do not attempt these stunts” subtitle? Great product. Lame advertising. Belongs to the “WTF mate?” category.

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