As a child, I had simple dreams: unlimited snacks and a TV remote all to myself to watch cartoons all day. And you know what part I didn’t like at all? TV ads. I know no one likes watching TV ads, so creating great and fun ads that people actually want to watch is a tough job. But my distaste for TV ads went a little deeper. Every time I looked, there was no one in my mold in any of the fun, cool commercials.
The few times I saw a fat person it was always in weight loss ads. Each time, the message was painfully clear: if you were fat, you were out of luck, because the world was on a mission to “fix” you. Forget about being funny, sassy or confident. You would never see a fat person make a joke, score a goal or just be the life of the party.
No, in Ad Land, fatness was a “before” condition, a problem that only waited for a miracle green tea or a magic pill to “save” them. Or maybe they thought fat people wouldn’t be able to handle a storyline? And here I thought I was just trying to enjoy my cartoons.
Imagine how different it would be if, instead of all those weight loss ads, we saw fat kids dreaming big and having fun without being taught about BMI. Or instead of a fat mother measuring herself against the counter in shame and a fat father being laughed at in his office, what if we saw adults who looked like the people I knew, laughing loudly, living a life without a calorie counter in their office? view. How nice would it be to see them happy, funny, capable and even a little wild? Because, shockingly, fat people do that too. But instead, ads continued to convey the same sad message: there’s only one “right” way to be. And if you’re not, you better work on it.
With Children’s Day just around the corner, as I looked up to think about the representation that could have been, I also spoke to creative people who are making a difference for today’s kids – to share the ads they wish they had seen growing up – the characters, the stories, the ads that could have reminded us that we were enough, just as we were. Because maybe, just maybe, we could have grown up knowing that happiness isn’t about dress size, and that no one needs “fixing” to fit in. Here’s what they have to say.
Adyasha Roy TomarCreative Director, McCann Worldgroup:
When I was younger, my best friend’s name was Alemyim Isaac from Nagaland. One day I asked her what country she came from. She must have been injured. I remember that day and wish I had seen more representation from the Northeast growing up. Assam, Mizoram, Nagaland… advertising creates culture and I think that would have had a huge impact.
I was a chubby kid. If I could go back in time and make an ad where the chubby kid wasn’t the butt of all the jokes. I’d take it a step further and make her the lead – maybe the main popular girl could be chubbier. I’d probably even include LGBTQ characters in a kid-friendly way. A complete rainbow ad!
Azazul Haque, Group Chief Creative Officer, Creativeland Asia:
Growing up, I wish I had seen more content around characters coming of age. I wish there was content or characters that would have taught me about different stages of adolescence. As there was and even now there is very little content or communication about how life changes as we grow up. There is content for a child or for adults.
If I had to go back in time, I would create an ad that teaches me as a child to respect girls and be more inclusive. That teaches me more about girls and how they think or feel. If we were educated about it then, perhaps there would be fewer gender inequality issues today.
Santosh Padhi, Chief Creative Officer, Wieden + Kennedy India:
I grew up in an era when there were very few mediums, and that included middle-class families or children. Advertisements were aimed at the upper class, with newspapers and magazines taking center stage.
There were very few television sets in my area that were also exclusively black and white televisions. I wish there were more colorful ads to begin with, whether in print or on television. Due to cost, most advertisements used to be in black and white. I loved static ads growing up; at that time, illustration, due to the complex photographic process and reproduction, took the lead, and some of them are still beautifully carved on my chota magaj.
Outdoors were hand painted those days, they certainly had character and personality to set an example, our hand painted Bollywood poster will always forever be the best outdoors, being an outdoorsman I have always loved great, bold, thick, colorful kept out as they looked good, with illustrations covering the main communication area
Except for a few candy brands, none of the brands appealed to me at the time, they all appealed to my parents. But honestly, I have no complaints against brands that haven’t spoken to me. Perhaps we were most focused on the basics of consumption rather than excessive consumption. But children these days are lucky and unlucky. They have so many options to choose from, which now puts pressure on me as a parent. We live more than we need in a messy world. So there is a subtle fight in society, for the same reason that sometimes less is more and more is always less.
Shantesh S rowChief Creative Officer, Oblique advertising:
When I was growing up in the 1980s, advertisements in India often focused on traditional family setups and gender stereotypes. One of the most played ads at the time was the Vicks commercial, which typically featured a mother caring for her son – who had a cold – and then rubbing Vicks on him to make him feel better. An effective ad nonetheless, one that still reinforced the “mother as protector” trope.
But when I saw the ‘Touch of Care’ advert from Vicks commercial around 2017/2018 – which told the story of a transgender mother and her adopted daughter, challenging conventional views of family and parenting, I was quite amazed at how the same ‘ The story of mother as protector could be told in a different way.
It emphasized compassion and acceptance. And I felt it was a representation that would make many children feel seen and valued. I wish some 80s ads had this spirit.
If I were to make an ad for my younger self, I would definitely make the Surf Excel ad ‘Daag Acche Hain’ commercial. It resonated with my own childhood at school – monsoon rains in Mumbai, red rubber boots, splashing in the mud and getting your school uniform dirty, and then realizing mum would be furious at home.
I loved how it allowed a child to experience the joy of discovery and learning without the fear of making mistakes. That imperfections are part of growth. That making mistakes and getting dirty in the process is okay.
Swati BhattacharyaGlobal Head at GCPL’s Lightbox Creative Lab:
In my time there was a lot of ‘beta’, a lot of parental imagination around their ambitions and expectations was always centered around ‘beta’. That’s something I wish had been different, but I’m glad I got to witness the shift from when it was about too much “beta” to “beti.”
The idea is that a girl is born in preparation for a final destination, a wedding or a good home. So a lot of the blessings that we saw in advertising and also in real life were never “may you stay with us forever,” but it was more about “may you find a good home.” It made every girl feel like she was passing through when she was in her parents’ house.
Moreover, many of the children we see in advertising are prototypes: extroverted or very sporty. I don’t think we show many other types of childhood that are possible, like a calmer, more introspective child or a reader. Instead, we often see a very sporty child or a ‘chatpata’ (lively) child.
As for childhood, it is depicted as if it were performative. These are the years when children are expected to entertain their parents and their friends. As an only child, I spent a lot of time alone, and a very intrinsic part of my day was being bored for a few hours. I think those hours of boredom were the only times you tried to find things to do, ways to entertain yourself. And I would have loved to make a health drink commercial that wasn’t about excelling, but just about being okay with yourself.
Uddhav Parab, Senior Creative Director, Interactive Avenues:
I think the ad I would have liked to have seen when I was younger was Nike’s launch ad for the London 2012 Olympics. I had severe asthma and was severely bullied because I couldn’t run well and finished last in the athletic school events. The ad was a hug from the past – making it almost okay to suck at something, and appreciating the fact that you showed up despite limitations and completed the task you started. About a decade later, I took up running voluntarily and completed marathons, but I can’t help but feel that Nike’s “giving everyone permission to suck at the start” ad gave me the push to start running.
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