“Pehle aankhen band karo,”

Brand: Airtel
Agency: Rediffusion | DYR.


The latest ad from this super-brand is an explicit expression of how Indians are hit, the most by emotions. No doubt that what sells here is sleaze or SRK, but Indian ads provide all food for emotion. And that is exactly what Airtel has been doing in its ads. The one prior to this where a young lad returns to his grand parents & uses his mobile phone (rather Airtel network), to bring about an interaction between his parents & grand parents, who haven’t met for long. Tears roll down the old one’s eyes. I mean, if not people of my age but still the old ones at place, at home, in a family – they can hear the chords being struck.

The recent one is of course…sheer emotions. Child returning from school – it starts raining – the child enjoys the rain – calls his father & ask him to close his eyes & makes him hear the water droplets falling outside. Bingo – you tend to get back to your school days. Remember what all dim-witted things you did while you were in school.

The prior ads to these other than the one mentioned earlier here were more in to mass appeal. The SRKs & Tendulkars’ type, which, were rather more into tapping the upstream, & A3 segment. The recent ads are more in to relations. It is more like putting relations at par with the network.

“Kuch bandhan atoot hote hain, jaise Airtel ka network.”



Juxtaposing this one with the “You & I – in this beautiful world” of Hutch seems as if both the ads are of same genre. Both tend speak of their web extent. Where as in comparison to BSNL Cellone has roped in Perky Priety as their brand ambassador, and is looking for some desperate attempt to hold on to their present position.

But the “baap” all, as far ads are concerned is the latest from the “Idea” front. The monkey picking up the cell-phone….too good an ad. A concept not virgin but cleverly worked out.

Now its your turn – take a close look at all the four ads & check which seems to convey the message to a certain extent of satisfation.

Petrosexuality @ 160 / 58k

Apache RTR 160
Agency: McCann-Erickson


Packed with 15.2 BHP and first time features, Apache RTR 160 (Racing Throttle Response), speaks pure aggression. TVS Apache RTR (Racing Throttle Response) is packed with 160cc over-square engine which oozes out 15.2bhp in order to reach the top speed of 118kph; is available at Rs.58,584 (ex-showroom, Delhi). What has put the prior success of Apache (150) on note is its mileage – “the” thing which almost every typically Indian looks whatsoever the cc might be…Phew !!



Well the ad is all about style, attitude with the a little bit of “oomph” factor, not from the lass of course, but from Apache itself. Apache has found its bit of share, rather bite of share by coming next to the pulsating sales of Pulsar DTS-I in the 150cc &150cc(+) segment. I remember the first where some street-smart dudes cast a spell on a girl who is on a so-called date with her man, while the guy seemed to be at a business meeting. The guys grab the girls’ attention by performing stunts.

Bajaj Pulsar was launched at a time when Hero Honda was at its peek, with all Splendors & Ambitions doing wonders. But the show stealer played its part. Pulsar slowly waded its way all through the way every-time. Whether it was the strategy to launch Ambition, Ambition 135, and Achiever in a close range to get a pie of the biker’s pick or whether it was launching HONDA Unicorn, an assumed substitute to CBZ (which was unfortunately not doing well). The strategy was to build on mileage but to no avail.

The recent ad speaks about practical classes….I mean practical classes on road. Just precisely exact to grab attention of wannabes. The ad made me recall some parts of “Five Point Something”. Wish such a thing took place there too. It speaks about confidence not of a playboy of course, but of a cool dude. What is it that drives these creative guys to make ads for all 150+ cc bikes almost of the same taste? (The latest Pulsar being just a bit different, just because there were no ladies shouting “it’s a male”.) What makes the Pulsar 220 ad class apart is more of the animation & the music. Rest all ads as far as I can recall were of the same genre. The CBZ Xtreme –being a more of over rated exaggeration of animated stunts. And of course the dialogue “Thinking is such a waste of time”…seems as if this reincarnated machine is gonna face the same consequence as that of its predecessor.

Answers to the THE F1 BLUE BOOK -- TAKE A PEEK !!!

So here are the answers for the THE F1 BLUE BOOK -- TAKE A PEEK !!!. Check out for all those hits & misses you got ....Vroooom!!!!!

Ans 1: Nick Heidfeld (presently BMW Sauber)

Ans 2: Fernando Alonso (presently VODAFONE Mc Laren Mercedes)

Ans 3: Juan Pablo Montoya (presently in NASCAR)

Ans 4: Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve

Ans 5: Melbourne

Ans 6: Sepang Circuit, Malaysia

Ans 7: Barcelona, Circuit de Catalunya

Ans 8: Monaco, Circuit de Monaco

Do tell me your score!!

THE F1 BLUE BOOK -- TAKE A PEEK !!!

With 4 days left for the US GP (Indianapolis) there has been ups & downs, controversies & caveats from all possible places in an F1 cicuit. Will Hamilton continue with his form; will Alonso make a comeback; can Nick Heidfield put upa a better fight this time. And what about Massa & Raikkonen, can they bring Ferrari back to track. Undoubtedly, the US GP promises to bring nail-biting action & some more surprises.

In the mean time, I bring some serious quizzing actions & some brain racking. Some hitz & some misses. The following 8 questions will give you an idea of where your stands as far as F1 is concerned.

Good Luck !!!!



NOTE: The quiz moves as the question follows a picture. Try & see how many bullzye do you hit !...

Q. Well if the talk of the F1 tinsel- ville is Lewis Hamilton, who recently won the Canadian GP, then this person above, is left no behind. In 2001 Sauber gave him his maiden chance as a rookie along with Kimi Raikkonen. He was the only flawless driver in 2007 Monaco GP, next to Hamilton. Oops!... I think, I almost uttered the answer.

Q. The easiest one. No hints, no clues. The close-up, the helmet & the impression, c’mon guys. Nail it.

Q. The diver in the picture above a crossover race winner, who has victories in Formula One cars, Champcars, IndyCars, Grand-Am Prototype cars and NASCAR stock cars. He was also famous for being a hot head in F1 during his time (2001-06). His exit from McLaren brought in Alonso.

Q. The surname of this F1 driver above coincides to one of the famous racetracks of F1, which appears every year in F1 calendar. The driver has a “Jr.” next to his name as his father also carries the same name. His father also was an F1 driver with only 2 active years between 1981-83. His father began & ended his F1 career on the same track itself. It was the same track about which the question mentions earlier.

Q. This place or rather the track stands as a similarity between Alonso & Karthikeyan. The similarity, if stated would rather push you very close to the answer. Try to hit a “HOME RUN”.

Q. This year in his second race for McLaren, Fernando secured the team's first win since 2005 with a commanding drive at this circuit. Now that must be an easy task. Fernando got into McLaren recently.

Q. Giancarlo Fisichella holds the record of fastest lap on this track of 1 ’15.641 (1 min 15.641 secs). This place also happens to be the home track of a world champion. Which place or track is this?

Q. The place mentioned above is one of the coveted wishes of any F1 driver. Considered to be the most difficult among all F1 racetracks, this circuit is more often called a street or even a lane. What makes it difficult is that it is so narrow that there are only some countable points where one can think of overtaking. Which place is this?

RISE OF THE "BLACK PEARL"

Lewis Hamilton, 22, the first black driver in Formula One history, added his first F1 victory to an already remarkable career start by winning the crash-filled Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal on Sunday. Hamilton started from the pole, also for the first time. Apart from losing the lead for three laps when he made his first of two pit stops, he led all the way and was never challenged. The youngster has six consecutive top-three finishes in six starts, something no other first-year F1 driver has accomplished. The only one to give the Mercedes McLaren driver any competition during the 70-lap race on Circuit Gilles Villeneuve's 2.71-mile road course was BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld. He chased Hamilton all day without catching him. The only thing that kept the race close at all was accidents — four full-course caution flags that wiped out the leads Hamilton built with seeming ease. He kept winning the restarts though and beat Heidfeld to the finish by 4.3 seconds. It was a stunningly calm performance from the Rookie driver as Championship rivals Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen all found some or the other impediment. The Canadian event was all messed up with accidents & penalties & the only 2 drivers who sustained the track were Hamilton (Mc Laren) & Nick Heidfield (BMW Sauber). With timings getting close for Hamilton, controversy were not far behind.

Villeneuve slammed Hamilton's aggressive starts in Britain's Autosport magazine this week. When will these chopping moves (cutting to the sides) stop?" Villeneuve told the magazine. "Lewis is not getting penalized for these things and his behavior off the start line has started to look like Michael used to." Films of the starts haven't shown any dangerous moves by the rookie, other than two weeks ago in Monaco, where everyone jostles for position because overtaking on the track is next to impossible. Hamilton surprised at the controversy said, “He has a right to his opinions," Hamilton said. "I respect that. But this is racing. If I was cutting across so there was a chance of taking them out, I would totally agree, but that's not been the case in any of the races.”
Besides this there are some anger, which the rookie had to keep buried in him just after the Monaco event where Double world champion Fernando Alonso won the showcase race ahead of the Briton after Ron Dennis (Mc Laren Team’s Boss) told them effectively not to race each other after the first pitstop to safeguard a one-two finish. The question was Hamilton & why not Alonso? The reason later stated to Hamilton was that he was the No. 2 driver for the team. Not only this. Mclaren got into difficult waters after FIA set a probe as to what exactly happened that the rookie made way for the reigning champ to get away with Monaco (perhaps the most coveted track any F1 driver would dream of winning some day). There was a similar case earlier when Rubens Barichello (then standing for Team Ferrari, now starring for HONDA) had to make way for Schumacher. That decision had triggered questions about so-called 'team orders', banned by the governing FIA after the infamous Austrian Grand Prix of 2002 when Ferrari ordered Brazilian Rubens Barrichello to let Michael Schumacher win.

Dennis said his conscience was clear. "We don't have team orders, we had a strategy to win this race," he said. "I make no excuses for instructing the racing drivers to slow their pace after the first stop and to effect our strategy. On the contrary, Hamilton had qualified with a far heavier fuel load than Alonso -- a tactical move that would have won him (Alonso) the race had the safety car come out and given an advantage to those able to make only one stop. In the end, the safety car stayed in. Despite celebrating his fifth podium in five races, the Briton fuelled the flames by saying he had number two on his car and was the team's number two driver. Dennis denied Alonso was favoured and said McLaren had only ever manipulated a race in exceptional circumstances. But just before acquiring pole for the Canadian Grand prix, he made it clear that he was no Rubens & the next time such an order comes his way, he will no more be a part of McLaren.
Alonso now leads the standings on race wins, level with Hamilton on 38 points. Despite celebrating his fifth podium in five races, the 22-year-old Briton fuelled the flames by saying he had number two on his car and was the team's number two driver.
It would be interesting to see how does the Spaniard (Alonso) reverts to all these in due time. He has proved his mettle but no doubt is facing perhaps the toughest guy on he track as on today.