Jan 10, 2006 12:05 PM
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(Updated Jan 10, 2006 12:05 PM)
They said marriages are made in heaven and I concurred. They said you don’t have a say in who your life partner would be and I agreed again. Then they said if anything goes wrong it was meant to go wrong and I said well hey hello now you listen up. Marriages might be made in heaven but you can always give your stamp of approval or reject it if you want to, and then all hell broke loose. What would that poor guy do when he has been married off to someone he is not compatible with, and she is not the dream match for him. His life is gone for a toss, who takes the blame now, heaven or the guy or the parents or the matchmakers? Now I am sure heaven certainly does not have any stakes in the life of the guy, neither do the other parties involved. If a mistake has been made the guy and only he is going to suffer the consequences. In that case is it not imperative on him to think twice before taking the marital vows, well jolly well it is.
Ah now having said that let us talk of the current scenario vis-à-vis the old Indian setup and the way the two systems used to handle their marriages. In the traditional setup we had most of the marriages happening through familial connection or through common friends who knew both the bride and the prospective bridegroom. They were in a position to judge if the two can or cannot share a compatible relation. They also knew the family of both the parties and they could take a call on the compatibility of the families and things like that and could come to a judicious choice. Now things have changed, more and more marriages are happening through marriage brokers who know nothing about the two parties, who just facilitates the meeting of the two and whose commission depends on the match making strike rate that they have. So they are least bothered about the issues, which might crop up after marriages. Now that brings me back to the story of the poor guy.
The latest trend in match making is the online community and marriage portals fanning all across the world who have a database of all wannabe brides and bridegrooms, who are breaking the barriers of geography, class, creed and religion to foster marriages across the globe. Suddenly we have a scenario where most of the communication that happens between the bride and the bridegroom would be online where they might not have even met personally and they have already made up their minds, then they would meet once or twice and the ‘deal’ would be stuck. This scenario is both a boon and a bane, if you are lucky you could have found yourself someone at the other end of the globe who is just made for you and if your case is like that of the poor guy you could end up marrying the ‘worst mistake of your life’. Now the stakes are very high so obviously the gains and losses would be colossal as well, its time for you to decide, now how do you decide?
Having given you a rather longish backdrop to the subject of my review let me start with the main topic as such. The ad that I am talking about is for a marriage/match-making portal called Jeevansaathi.com, which faces competition from the likes of Shadi.com and Bharatmatrimony.com and the likes of TOI matrimonial and what have you from the local pundits to the ubiquitous aunties whose terrain extend far and wide across.
The ad shows a domineering wife who treats her husband like a debased dog, asking him to fetch a ball, when he is about the pick the ball, asks him to sit, then again she orders him to get the ball, then giving him the permission to speak and when he is about to say something she hushes him up. The predicament of the poor guy is palpable as he is being subjected so such ignominy. Being a resilient person he takes it all in his stride and keeps up with the way his wife treats him. The ad then cajoles you not to ‘marry the worst mistake of your life’. With the super going as Jeevansaathi.com meet your woman and the ad ends with a shot of the girl pretending to feed him, only to take the bait away and feed herself.
The idea of the ad is simple, it wants to press home the point that if you marry from some other places except jeevansaathi, you run the risk of ending up with someone who is not made for you. The ad mocks at its competitors as it shows a failed marriage. It then juxtaposes the predicament of the guy with the alternative that he had i.e. approaching jeevansaathi to find his partner, something, which he did not do, and hence he had to pay the price for it. The subtle use of humor and the cheekiness of the ad along with the showcasing of a situation, which can happen due to a bad marriage makes the ad a laudable one. The ad is a departure from the sugary, goodie good matrimonial ads. The use of humor and the mockery of a marriage gone wrong have been done quite well.
However it is not a full proof ad as people might say what guarantee do I have of the marriage being perfectly harmonious even if I marry via Jeevansaathi.com, will they vouch for it in anyways. And even if they do what if the marriage did go wrong? The kind of societal setup we have, divorce and remarrying are still taboo and for all practical purposes the life of both the bride and the groom is gone for a toss. Also it does not say as to what is it about jeevansaathi that makes it any better then its competitors when it comes to match making. There is no hint or purport of any differentiating factor for jeevansaathi, something which should have been there in the ad. Look at any other ad; even if it does not talk directly about the differentiating factor, the subtle hidden meaning does come out.
Suddenly the websites and portals have shifted gears in the ad world, they are making bold and aggressive ads and they want a bigger share of the pie. Look at the ads for Naukri.com or a Monster.Com; they are all making their presence felt. It could be because more and more business is happening through the online medium, and as the brick and mortal real companies are eyeing the online world to market the products, the online companies and portals are trying hard to make their physical presence felt. The synergy between the online and real medium it seems has come a full circle since the inception days of the World Wide Web medium.
Questions
What do you make of the latest spree of humor-laced ads?
Which for you has been the best humorous ad and what makes it so cool for you?
What do you think of the marriage between the online and the real medium for business and consumer attention?
Which according to you has been the best matrimonial ad and why?
P.S. I feel there has been an overkill of ad reviews from me, so I am taking a break from ads for the time being, will write some other stuff and well I am always around to RRC though
