Out with the Old, In with the New
If people love the “new” Indian cricket squad, then advertisers won’t be far behind. The Mumbai Mirror reports that advertisers and brand managers have eagerly followed the latest matches in South Africa and come up with their own storylines and symbolism for each player:
“Clearly Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh look set to be the advertisers’ new favourite but the surprise in the pack is Sreesanth. His aggression on the field has many takers among the big-wigs of the ad industry. “Sreesanth will end up with many deals because of his fiery and funny persona,” says photographer Atul Kasbekar who is also the chairman of an event company called Bling Entertainment.
But advertisers are divided over what the emergence of these new stars mean for the old stalwarts Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid. While Piyush Pandey says the old guard still carry their own value– “Like Sachin for continuity and Rahul Dravid for dignity”–Ajay Shroff, director of Pinxit Blue Advertising says: The Big 3 don’t have too many years left (of playing).”
There are a number of ridiculous elements with this development, but I’ll have to restrain myself to comment on a few:
1. It seems utterly silly to think that one man should represent only one quality: Dhoni may be aggressive and stylish, but he has also won plaudits for his cool captaincy and, yes, restraint. Hoping to box three-dimensional players — humans — into one catch-phrase won’t do any good, especially for the public’s understanding of the game. Sreesanth is Sreesanth, not just “fiery and funny,” and anyone who has looked at his bowling stints knows just how complicated his inner mental processes must be.
2. I have never, ever understood players and product endorsements: it just seems so absolutely nonsensical to me to think that a consumer would buy a product simply because, say, Dhoni has appeared in an advertisement for it. Now, if Dhoni made one of his own products (hair gel, for instance), I can understand the appeal. But why bother otherwise?
3. The most insulting, however, must wait for the end: Sachin and Dravid, two of India’s greatest batsmen, now have limited appeal, apart from “continuity” and “dignity.” Perhaps this says something about the strange, euphoric mood among the Indian chattering classes these days; there seems to be such a strong desire for constant motion and the casting off of history. Only 3 or 4 years ago, Dravid and Sachin were the key parts of the team (and, in many ways, they still are; I shudder at the thought of the young Twenty20 India facing England at home without them). I’m not one for cheap sentimentalism, but I am one for history, patience and respect: we need to know what Sachin and Dravid did, just as we need to understand what our ancestors and founders did for us too. Slow down; a little rest never hurt anyone.
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