Adverisements claim that cannot be verified

Indian Advertisement industry seem to be taking quick & dirty approach towards gaining traction & improving sales... Horlicks used to keep "high standards" for their advertisements, but off late seem to have given up & taking an easy route by using some health reasons or facts (that cannot be verified) for advertising the product.

Regular Horlicks:
Horlicks runs this ad as showing in a school the kids were made in two groups & only one group was given Horlicks, while others regular milk... showing after 6 months, kids taking Horlicks were stronger, sharper & taller. This AD was accidentally telecasted in UK by Nepalese Channel & GSK got into legal tangle with UK government and had to ban the AD:

Youtube Video of Banned Horlicks Ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PzL0bIdFYg
News in UK Media - row over Horlicks Ad: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1080646/Row-ad-Horlicks-makes-children-tall.html

Why can't the advertising council in India watch out for such ADs that don't make sense & ban them, instead of letting them use false promises to sell their product?


Womens Horlicks
Jan 2009:
Horlicks launched their Womens Horlicks with a nice advertisement, showing how women are busy at work & home taking care of others, forget to take care of themselves... I really loved this launch & I thought it was giving the right message - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWvolkt-FH4

June 2009 :
Horlicks has now launched a new AD for women horlicks that show, one in three women are suseptible to weak bone related joint pains or fracture & recommend them to drink Horlicks. How are the going to prove this point? Is it this easy to make claims about health that does not even require a research backing & detailed explaination... before ADs are approve?

ps: Sorry, could not find a video of this AD on web.

What is the bad in these ADs?
These brand are lacking a long term strategy, perspective & creating advertisements that is creating some form of scare or inferiority complex, if you don't use the product... it only helps people to bond with it, until the deficiency is covered & then people will move on.

Brands should rather consider giving the positive message about the product in the AD, encourage people to relate with the product to their real life.

-Bhaskara

Next is what? for DVR, TiVo or PVR (as called in India)

I love the Personal Video Recorder (PVR) from TataSky+, television viewing experience has changed & hardly watch any movie or programs with commercials... PVR them & watch it later, still waiting for an unlimited storage or external harddisk facility. But... apart from more storage, what could be next in this space?

• PVR a favorite program, share it with other friends or families - digitally connect different PVR's & ability to browse the recorded programs & play back?

• Watch a favorite program together with friends? - Invite other members, whom you think would like to watch the program, invite them to see with you - watch together, even if you are miles away?

• Create your own video & share to your grandmother or relative far away? - extend the same recorded sharing experience to sharing user created videos, to far away relatives, friends... broadcast those cherished memories of your family with your loved ones!

As Samsung say's it... "Next is what?"

-Bhaskara