We start a new stream of thought here, looking at men from all angles! Over the next few months we will look at Men and the Seven Deadly Sins, What Men Chase, Male Bonding, Conflicts in Men, and more.
To start with, we bring you the latest wave maker in JWT: from JWT Paris, the feelings of a man looking at the woman welcoming the new member in their family, a portrayal of age-old father-son rivalry for... guess which category?
Nice treatment using concept of Oedipus complex which is a child's unconscious desire for the exclusive love of the parent of the opposite sex. This desire includes jealousy toward the parent of the same sex and the unconscious wish for that parent's death.
ReplyDeleteAmazing concept. Couldn't have ever imagined the category.
ReplyDeleteDamn cool ad with a great insight and a great concept
ReplyDeleteFROM CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGY TO BLEEDING-EDGE TECHNOLOGY
ReplyDelete(Or why we’re asking the question “Any male in sight?”)
A young executive recently presented a software to a global corporation and declared it as “cutting-edge” technology. The CEO of the company, a woman in her early forties, yawned and told him, “Yeah, but we’re looking for bleeding-edge”. Meeting adjourned.
Well, what seems to be the point in discussion is could a woman lift a heavy club and bonk a man on the head? No. Could she lead an army of savages to loot, ravage & plunder neighbouring villages, cities, countries or continents? No, but maybe with the help of some men. Could she refuse or offer sex and therefore secretly control the male who dominated the whole world? Sure. Can she, sitting in front of a computer, click herself in the nude and post it on the worldwide web and earn millions? I don’t think you need the answer to that.
We maybe moving from cutting to bleeding to maybe gangarin or even amputating technology. But the point is the balance of power is shifting in an unexpected kind of way. Phew! About time, wouldn’t you say? No, not if you were a butt-pinching male in a Delhi bus. But hey! Mr. Jhat… who was Miss Universe in 1994? Yeah, right… Sushmita Sen. Who was Mr. Universe that year dude? Remember the name of an astronaut who died in the last Columbia shuttle crash? Who was the pilot now? Huh? Huh? Duh!
This is not to put men down… ‘coz alas, I am of the species, but this is to point out that brawn or perceived brain is no longer in demand.
It’s cunning logic. The real cunning logic species, please stand up.
We’re moving into an era where we no longer say “The wife always has the last word”, patronisingly. Instead, we say, “Anything the husband says after the wife is the beginning of a new argument”.
Being in the sidelines, women have had all the time to observe, calculate and learn from the mistakes of prehistoric women. And men. Men have been too sure of themselves to bother. Naturally, the bell-curve tolls once again. For a generation that grew up on “Rekha pines for Amitabh”, whether it was true or not, today’s generation is growing up on “Kareena dumps Shahid”, whether it is true or not.
It has always been women vs football. Women vs beer. Women vs fast cars. Women vs other women. Women vs dog. And so on. But now, it’s women vs men. And they seem to be winning.
As they always say, information is the only known source of power to mankind. And till now, information was withheld or manipulated by men in power. When I say power, I mean at a friendship level, family level, state level, national level, whatever. But now, with the arrival of new media & exposition, everyone is privy to information, right or wrong, and is free to interpret & guide their own destinies based on this information.
Critical mass is always the key to sweeping change. And it has been building up over the years. You can’t keep a good woman down. And as the good woman influences other women, humanity in general is forced to sit up and take notice. Condescendingly at first, apprehensively next, and resignated finally.
Political correctness also plays a crucial role. Today’s subject-oriented books don’t refer to a student as “he”. Instead, they say “she”. And films like Chak de! blatantly show a posse of young girls walloping rowdy, eve-teasing young men. Add a pinch of nationalism to that and I’d be surprised if a docile, middle-class girl on the streets wouldn’t be tempted to pull out her sandals if required.
Technology runs on what I’d like to call cunning logic. If you took this and added that you could get this & that. Women have woken up to the fact. And are taking this, mixing that and getting this & that. Men have been doing it for so long, albeit in a subconscious kind of way, so now it’s their turn to take this and live with this only, while their counterparts actively pursue the mystical alchemy.
As for Indian advertising, the less said the better. It used to be the medium of change. The trend-setter. But in the last 10 years has become a clone of other media. And entertainment. With absolutely no profound knowledge, or cunning logic, it goes with the flow.
I may be pushing the point there, but look at our time’s defining literature… the Page-3. Both men & women are interested in what Paris Hilton just threw up in a posh restaurant. But only women maybe interested in what Tommy Lee did. There you go! Tommy who? Remember Pamela Anderson & her troubled marriage? Rest my case. Seems like the target audience for men is diminishing as our women are shedding not just their inhibitions but also their wardrobes in public. And what is poor advertising to do, censored as it is by senior creative, client servicing, planning, clients & even self-proclaimed media moghuls. It is the most repressed of mediums, where everybody wants to do something one day, a day that is as elusive as Angelina Jolie’s private life.
While you ponder over these confusing social, media, technologic & polemic issues, I have to slap my wife for shouting at my dog while I’m watching TV. Needles to say, she will logout from her women’s forum & slap me back.
Senthyl Parthasarathy
six gill shark Entertainment