IPL this year has been quite eventful despite a lack of crowd. CSK was unable to qualify for the semifinals for the very first time, and it looks like a new champion could emerge this year with DC and RCB posing a good challenger for the trophy. Just 6 points separate the top and bottom team in this year’s IPL, the least of any season. The fans could not have asked for more in a pandemic hit year. A huge number of people are glued to their TV since there are limited options for entertainment. The big companies have also seen this and have launched an all-out attack on viewers eyes with their advertisements.
The whole idea of an ad is to get people to notice your product and hopefully buy it. Most companies spend millions on their ads so that it gets the attention which then could be converted into sales. Many companies have found great success in this formula and want to seize the opportunity that the IPL presents. This season of the IPL has had many new ads, some of which were good but many very annoying to watch. Here we look at the worst offenders of this year, not particularly in that order.
WhiteHat Jr
If the Indian education system was not already crazy competitive, the folks at WhiteHat Jr would make sure no child has a good night sleep anymore. This ad has a bunch of “businesswale” fighting for the signature of Chintu, a 9-year-old kid who reportedly made an app after learning coding at WhiteHat Jr. The neighbour is shocked and so are we thinking of how many childhoods this ad strategy would ruin.
Every one of Josh ads
Corporates trying to understand internet humour always produces the best of cringes. Josh ad series has a bunch of ads that are trying to get horny kids to use their app now that Tik Tok has been banned. One of its ads has Jacquline Fernandes trying to do a sensual thumka that is as good as her acting.
This, however, is nothing compared to the other one that has a guy standing in the shower and doing a tongue twister. ABD hits a six on the last ball of the over and next you see is a weird naked guy in the shower making funny faces. The whole set up is cringe.
Great Learning App ft VIrat Kohli
This ad starts with Kohli staring towards the sea from a balcony and contemplating “why some people are successful” with cliched music in the background. He continues with some of the lamest advice one could give. For a company named “great” and “learning” it is quite a shame that this is the best they could come up with. Also, I’m watching a match, if I wanted to hear a lecture I’d go straight to Dad’s room.
MPL ads
How we went from an anti-gambling country to all-out gambling addicts is still beyond me. The government banned cryptocurrency in 2018 as they thought the country was still not matured enough to take part in this volatile sector. The same government that thinks Indians should not be allowed to invest money on their own allows millions of gambling companies to not only function but also sponsor the biggest leagues in the country.
The ads today are literally asking 10 year olds to learn coding while 20-year-olds to gamble online. Even the rules state that any person who is directly associated with cricket cannot be linked to a gambling company. These days, however, the players, coaches, commentators, hell even the president of the BCCI is asking people to gamble away their money in hopes of winning crores.
One such ad is MPL. The ads start with a person saying how his life was all miserable when one day he started playing MPL and winning it. He would continue that with the amount that he won on MPL he has bought a laptop for his son so that he could attend online classes! “Kuchh bhi ho jaye bachchon ki padhai rukni nahi chahiye”, he says this as an adult who is gambling while his child is not able to attend online classes.
These are just a few of the ads that people find annoying to watch over and over again. It becomes a chore when you’re watching a cricket match which has ads every over. I guess corporates continue doing these ads as they are not called out enough for these vulturistic tactics. I hope this article reminds them that making ads like these is not okay and we could be spared a little.
