In the 21st century, anything and everything becomes viral. So is the case with an advertisement, that talks about the sentiments of the Indian people and links it to a PAN MASALA?
A 20-second advertisement by Raj Niwas pan masala which has over 42 million views is in an office setting, with a boss, 15-18 employees sitting around the boss, and one employee on the projector presenting how, if the supply is brought from china, the profit would be 90 crore rupees. the boss throws a newspaper which has the headline –“China’s COVID-19 wreaks havoc in India” after that the employee speaks something again, this time the boss says that the supply is not bigger than the country the people of our country.
A then there’s an ending scene with him consuming a pan masala from a packet and the slogan is “SOCH JO KARE RAAJ”. If this doesn’t seem absurd there are a plethora of other pan masala advertisements which state that a person becomes much better spoken if they consume the pan masala.
If one wants to use NATIONALISM or target the sentiments of the people one must make sure that their advertisement makes sense, and doesn’t promote something without correlation and causation of factors in the ad copy.
If one wants to use emotional appeal to reach the audience, one must use products or factors that jell together. For example- an advertisement that talks about the people of the country can promote or advertise a grain, flour, or some health products which benefit the public, not something like a PAN MASALA which we all are well aware of it being a surrogate advertisement for gutka but is advertised as pearls or elaichi.
Notwithstanding the ban on the commercial and sale of pan masala and gutka, with the aid of using IPL, fancy classified ads, and Bollywood stars, the business’s biggest manufacturers and industrialists have thrived
A hidden story of the way the business drove a hole through a crushing ban, through the use of elite sponsorships, the Indian superior League (IPL), and top Bollywood stars like Shah Rukh Khan.
Pan masala is among India’s largest industries, with a marketplace predicted at over Rs 40,000 crore, at the back of the achievement of its biggest manufacturers and the industrialists who manage them.
All state governments banned the manufacturing, advertisement, and sale of gutka and pan masala mixed with tobacco, among rising issues over their fitness influences- from 2011 onwards
a dried, granular, pre-blended version of the traditional pan with artificial color, flavors, fragrances, beaten betel nut, and spices is Pan masala. as a meal product regulated under the meals safety and standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
It comes with a health caution as it includes areca nut, which is also injurious to health but it can be advertised and bought. regulated below Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products (Prohibition, advertisement and law of trade and trade, production, delivery, and Distribution) Act, 2003, gutka comes under a tobacco product.
ASCI doesn’t allow advertised content for harmful products but they can be directly sold like liquor.
The pan masala tale exemplifies how clever surrogate advertising can get around government regulations with a product that embodies dangerous chemicals and is predicted to play its role, as there are approximately lakh instances of oral cancers every year.
pan masala brands usually don’t promote their merchandise and run advertisements of elaichi or cardamom instead, which are free from tobacco, nicotine, areca nut, or other addictive materials. The branding, however, is indistinguishable.
These groups generate a plethora of revenue but it is tough to estimate, a part of it is driven strictly by cash. However, a recent study with the aid of market research company Imarc envisaged the marketplace to be worth Rs 41,821 crore in 2021 and predicted that it’ll grow to about Rs 53,081.5 crore by 2027. the full fee of India’s Covid-19 vaccination program is expected to be approximately Rs 50,000 crore, estimate it.
In the past India has seen a surge in celebrity advertising, and this was the technique used to convince people that a product is for their benefit – like the polio campaign, which was started when there were lakhs of polio cases and was not doing well- in terms of being trusted by people.
It was later researched and the result was the trust factor, people didn’t trust advertisements because they sometimes can be a hoax, fake, manipulated, etc.
Mr. Amitabh Bachchan was the celebrity who became a part of the polio campaign and the slogan was “do boond Zindagi ke”, and people started to believe in it, and went ahead because Mr. Amitabh Bachchan was well known and people knew if he was vouching for something it must be good.
Another example is when the idea used Mr. Abhishek Bachchan as their endorser for a save trees advertisement because there was a lot of deforestation which lead to extremely harsh climatic conditions including floods, and the paper wastage was taken seriously too. which resulted in a lot of people saving trees and a lot of people becoming aware of the importance of trees.
Plethora changed since then, celebrities in today’s time get paid to advertise a product and if it’s up to their expectations in monetary terms, then they do the advertisements. Regardless of how harmful the product can be to people’s health. Or if the product even does what it claims. Be it a masala advertisement or a pan masala advertisement.