GCV OPINION
A RECENT spate of television adverts capitalises on the quirkiness of being "Indian".
And, to be frank, this quirkiness lies in the eye of the ad creator - in most cases, non South African of Indian origin.
The chasm between the cardboard characters we see in the ads versus real people we encounter everyday are often pretty huge.
SA Indians are much more varied than those speaking with thick accents or those wanting to get their daughters married off.
The Diski dance ad with two "charous" fishing on a pier are case in point.
The key characteristics of monosyllabic, Indian fisherman who smak a move (by the way that dance which just may cause a feva is uber camp) is stereotyped, dated, unclever. Thank God it's quick and painless before the visuals focus on the team tipped to embarass the nation in the FIFA 2010 World Cup.
The other ad under the spotlight is the one featuring the Caucasian infiltrating a SA Indian home and wedding or such celebration and leaving with containers of free food at the end. So if FNB thinks its money is on the mark on reading SA Indians, it better rethink its strategy. We've more important things on mind than finding a suitor for our daughters: like the rugby scores, who's Liverpool gonna thrash tonight and would the other half appreciate the pasta I am making (with me in mind) for dinner tonight?
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