Before I start venting my frustration out as usual, I request all of you with teary eyes to watch this video first. There are chances that you may already have watched this one but if you still haven’t please do so now. Thank me later.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3aup2aqwJU
I assume you have watched the video and now you are either too angry or too amused. Let’s get talking now.
Wow…I mean WOW…What a wonderful wonderful way of expressing hope and hopelessness at the same time. This new ad of Arvind Kejriwal not just takes tomfoolery to the next level it also kills the idea of a family and the role of husband and wife in it. It is megalomaniac to say the least. It also comes across as a silly ploy to avoid the established norms by the judiciary of India.
Let us talk about the whole new level of tomfoolery first.
Alright so, Delhi was crumbling under the pressure of soaring prices and rampant corruption. Housewives were crying akele mein. And then Kejriwal came, he first reduced water and electricity prices and then strategically eradicated corruption. He was different from other leaders because a.) He was not corrupt and b.) He knew how to tame the corrupt people. Hence he cracked down on the corrupt babus and institutions and while doing so he extracted some wealth and by extracting the wealth, he reduced the prices of essential commodities as a result of which a wave of relief hit Delhi and hence Housewives stopped crying but the evil politicians and wicked media started plotting against him which makes the housewives of Delhi very nervous and that’s why they pray for the wellbeing of the embodiment of honesty, that Shri Kejriwal ji is. I understand that I wrote a very long sentence but hey! I didn’t want to break your rhythm. The plot of this ad has enough ammo to blow a film maker, an economist, a finance wizard, a market analyst and a journalist at the same time. It can even shred Rahul Gandhi’s metaphors to pieces. Now some pertinent questions?
- Does the ad account for unmetered vs metered water connections?
- Does the ad account for the recent increase in the electricity bills?
- The ad makes a sweeping statement that Arvind reduced corruption, can the theory be expressed in numbers?
- Does the ad account for the fact that Shri Kejriwal ji made a career out of accusing people, now when fingers are pointed at him, how does it convert into Sab mere Arvind ke peeche pade hue hain?
- Does the ad mention that he gave a clean chit to a man with forged documents?
- Does the ad even remotely talk about Jan Lokpal which forced Shri Kejriwal ji to quit last time? (Considering, he had no national ambitions. Ha Ha Ha)
No the ad doesn’t. The ad occupies all the inches of our television and frustrates us. The truth is that “because of shortage of funds”, Kejriwal ji couldn’t pay the MCD workers and as a result of that Delhi turned into a garbage yard. The truth is that Kejriwal ji has been busy in locking horns with the Delhi Lieutenant Governor for most of the time. Governance has remained an orphaned child till now. And I am not too hopeful about the future too.
Let us talk about the “killing the idea of a family and the role of husband and wife in it” part, now.
So when Delhi was corrupt, the husband maintained an impassive visage and kept watching TV. When Delhi became happy and prosperous under Shri Kejriwal Ji, the husband kept maintaining the same impassive visage and kept watching TV. And when the corrupts and the crooks started plotting against Shri Kejriwal ji, the husband remained glued to his TV set and his face still remained impassive. The wife on the other hand was full of emotions. She cried in the first stage, she smiled and blessed Shri Kejriwal ji with both hands in the second stage and in the final stage she almost cried, cursed the crooks and prayed for the wellbeing of Shri Kejriwal ji. AND SHE DID THE HOUSEHOLD CHORES, DROPPED MUNNI TO SCHOOL, CAME BACK AND COOKED FOR THE HUSBAND, YEAH THE SAME BLOODY IDIOT WHOSE FACE IS DEVOID OF EMOTIONS AND HE HAS NO JOB IN THE WORLD. Hence we can safely assume that:
- Wives are servants of husbands
- Husbands may choose to work but that’s not mandatory at all
- Wives however need to cook, clean and drop Munni to school
The idea of family destroyed in 2 minutes.
Anyways, moving on. Let us come to the “silly ploy to avoid the established norms by the judiciary of India” part now.
The Ad director cleverly or rather too cleverly for our comfort didn’t use Shri Kejriwal Ji’s glorious face but he used his name multiple times in the ad. The Apex court says that Chief Ministers cannot feature in a Lok Lubhavan Ads, but hey…the name can, can’t it? And so it does and so many times prepended with “Mere”, “Hamare”, “Ham Sab ke”. Shri Kejriwal ji is not just our beloved CM, he is now our “Mera Arvind”. Cute!
According to reports, the campaign is expected to run for a week and the slots have cost the state exchequer about Rs 1.5 crore. Mera Arvind can afford to use 1.5 Crore as he freed us from the shackles of corruption.
In the end I would like to say that this new ad of Arvind Kejriwal is not just a torture but also a very poor example of ad film making. The plot has gaping holes, the acting is over the top, the theme is propagandizing, and the agenda is farcical. But Shri Kejriwal ji knows his target audience well. I am sure the ad will find its audience, who will smile, cry and pray with the characters.
The ad is a pain in the brain, and all that you said……the brainless copy writer, creative director and the agency who conceptualised and executed it deserve an Oscar for stupidity. Even the hardcore AAP followers would be cringing at the amateurish attempt at image building!
But hey, who talks about his failures, that too in his own ad? None of the senior politicos who he seems to be emulating, do that. Today’s politics centers around a person not around the party, and Arvind, the politician is also doing the same.
His own flop ad fails him, miserably, is another matter.
//Even the hardcore AAP followers would be cringing at the amateurish attempt at image building!//
No they aren’t. See below.
Atul, just as you have a strong bias for your chosen leader and party despite their flaws, they have too. This attempt at defending his leader is a weak hearted one, you know that so let him be.
Oh! I always let this particular “him” be
For a normal person this ad may be too immaturish. But Kejriwal knows his target audience who are watching this ad from their CRT tvs, staying in some makeshift basti..
By the way I always thought spending 700 crores in ads in 1 year is greater than spending 1.5 crores after 4 months.. U proved me wrong.
I am in tears after reading your reasoning. So purposefully he has shown the ad as a male dominated one…even though the whole narrative is from a women’s perspective…He is anti-family…Lets crusify him…
So only the bastiwalas voted for Kejriwal? And they are not normal people? And if Kejriwal had to do everything that others are doing, then why did he claim to be different…. ‘Hum alag tarah ki rajniti karne aaye hain’! Alag tarah ki rajniti…through this kind of self propagation? I was annoyed with BJP’s three press-conferences-a-day to celebrate one year of NDA govt and now Kejriwal too…..He has disillusioned many people who had voted for him.
Hey Atul, here is another ad by Congress…wud love to see your analysis on this ad, featuring Modiji all over it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEsqEelew2g
The post is very disturbing to say the least. For the following reasons.
1. It’s an advertisement. Not a news article that government will talk about its failures and give facts and figures. They may or may not. It’s you’ll them. You are not convinced ? You don’t have to be… Just say you are not convinced. Why rant about what a minute long video can’t explain.
2. The perfect wife. Understand that you don’t understand. Your idiotic take about how families should be run should not become a problem for others. You may disagree with the kind of woman shown in the ad but you can not say this cannot be the woman’s depiction. Just for the sake of argument I might take this woman positively. The woman is hard working. More so than the man. She does all her work properly. Madness the house finances, even talks about local politics. She is a strong woman. Also, the ad has that woman as centre so the man is only seen in the passing, could have been any other activity. Also, you forgot to check how many of Delhi women of the age depicted here are housewives. Maybe he is right in generalising it. Who knows ?? I know you don’t. (Remember how you were ranting about generalising and data)
3. The smart use of Kejriwal. Yes they did a smart work around. It’s called jugad. That’s what Indian people are famous for. Deal with it or file a PIL. Btw, did you do research on how many of bjp congress and other party ads have similar characteristics ?? I bet not. (Data and research) oops..
Ps: yes the hardcore kejriwal supporters may not agree with the video but the reasons would be very different from yours.
Really very nice blog for politics and about Arvind Kejriwal.
Abhinav Mishra