Demonetisation not hard, new desi viagra ad suggests you get a hard-on
The demonetisation drive may not have done much to rid the country of black money and its hoarders so far, but what it has done is to make people go absolutely nuts. This sudden cashlessness (a direct effect of banning Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes) has given a boost to many e-commerce brands. Paytm for one has made no attempt to hide the fact, that it is absolutely happy about people being coerced to use their services.
 |
| This is a problem pills are unlikely to solve. [Photo: Reuters] |
Paytm went from a full page congratulatory ad (with the Narendra Modi’s face on it), to an insensitive video campaign that did full well to blatantly ignore how much this cash vacuum has affected the lives of the impoverished. But that’s not the only brand which has tried to piggyback the Modi Sarkar initiative. After all, praising Modi’s moves blindly equals to being a responsible patriotic brand in today’s India.
A Delhi based e-commerce portal by the name of Book My Chotu cranked things up a notch by offering the services of “chotus” to stand in queues for people to busy to deal with demonetisation. Their motives were above questioning, because they clearly stated that they supported the prime minister’s move.
The newest one is by far the weirdest. But in light of today’s unbelievably jingoistic judgement by the apex court, it seems just fine.
If it is patriotic to be forced to demonstrate respect for the national anthem in movie theatres, then it is sure as hell patriotic to get a boner out of praising Modi’s demonetisation drive. And what more, this product helps you with that. Stay-On “power capsules” (wink wink), proclaims proudly in a newspaper ad “When you think demonetisation, think Stay-On”. This hilariously bad ad gets worse with every line as it reinforces every kind of bhakt apology for the demonetisation drive.
 |
| Photo: Twitter |
“It’s not a bitter pill. It’s a power capsule.”
This analogy begs the question: Who is this power capsule for and who is to going to be on the receiving end (if you catch my drift)?
It calls the drive a minor inconvenience and says that those opposing it are “whining”. No desi Viagra brand, no: not getting an erection from time to time may be a minor inconvenience; Being cashless for 50 days is a tragedy.
At one point in the ad copy, there is a line that describes how we must show our support to our supreme leader’s great initiative. The line goes “perform it smilingly, energetically with vigour and vitality”. This innuendo, mildly disturbing as it is, also reflects the prime belief of the bhakt embodiment: Bear with everything and be happy about it. That’s, by the way, an order.
This beautiful ad of course did not go unnoticed on the social media. From Facebook to Twitter to Reddit, everyone had their two cents to add to it:
Message is clear, stay on. pic.twitter.com/VAm3LE1Pz5
— Vikas Goel (@vikaspgoel) November 30, 2016
In case you were wondering how bad the advertising sector has been hit by demonetisation. pic.twitter.com/extLKBTW3k
— Radhika (@Nomnombiar) November 30, 2016
Wtf pic.twitter.com/LrIKV7QOKZ
— Shivam Vij (@DilliDurAst) November 30, 2016
What kind of world are we living in that boner tablet company has to pretend to be patriotic. How insecure is our nationhood? https://t.co/OlQ3kB7lGX
— Aditi Mittal (@awryaditi) November 30, 2016
This is what a hard sell looks like. https://t.co/XaE4mwsgM3
— Raheel Khursheed (@Raheelk) November 30, 2016
Ads of course, can’t be stopped. But let’s hope that people don’t misunderstand the ad and make the mistake of consuming said pills before deciding to go stand in ATM queues. Things might get a little... difficult (you thought, I’d say "hard", didn’t you? Gotcha!)