Tag Media

TELLY‑VISION OF WAR

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You ever notice how every war comes with its own advertising campaign? They don’t just drop bombs anymore, they drop slogans. Russia and Ukraine? That’s the “freedom and democracy” brand. Israel and Palestine? That’s the “complicated family dispute” brand. Same blood, same rubble, but two completely different commercials.

And the media — oh, the media. These people don’t report the news, they sell it. They package it like laundry detergent: “New and improved conflict in Eastern Europe! Now with 30% more moral clarity!” When Russia invaded Ukraine, the whole news machine snapped into action like a Broadway musical. Somber music, maps with arrows, anchors with serious voices. “This is an attack on freedom itself.” Freedom itself! Sounds big, doesn’t it? Sounds like they’re defending truth, justice, and the American way. Which is funny, because the American way has usually meant bombing the shit out of someone who can’t fight back.

And suddenly, everybody’s a Ukraine expert. People who couldn’t find Kiev on a map if it was tattooed on their ass are posting hashtags, waving little flags, changing their profile pictures. McDonald’s pulls out of Russia. Coca‑Cola makes a statement. Starbucks issues solidarity. You know a war is real when the people who sell sugar water and fries get involved. “You may be starving in a bunker, but at least we stand with you — limited time only!”

Now flip the channel. Israel and Palestine. Oh boy. Whole different script. Same bombs, same dead kids, same smoke in the air, but the coverage? Suddenly it’s like you walked in on a family argument you weren’t invited to. The anchors lean in: “Well, it’s complicated.” You ever notice how “it’s complicated” is just adult code for “We don’t want to lose our advertisers”?

Because here’s the deal: Russia is an easy villain. Putin is the perfect bad guy. He’s got the scowl, the shirtless horseback photos, the whole Bond villain starter kit. Perfect casting. Israel and Palestine? That’s messy. That’s history, religion, politics, money, land, blood, and guilt all tied into one giant ball of “don’t touch that if you want to keep your job.” So instead, the media becomes contortionists: “Both sides… cycle of violence… shades of gray.” Shades of gray? Folks, I don’t need fifty shades of gray. I need you to stop bombing hospitals and schools.

And don’t think for one second the media doesn’t love war. War is their Super Bowl. War is ratings. War gives them the chance to look serious while cashing checks. They’ve got correspondents in flak jackets standing fifty miles from the action just to say, “As you can see behind me…” No, I can’t see behind you. I see a brick wall and some smoke in the distance. You’re safer than I am in my living room, asshole.

Meanwhile, the talking heads sit in their studios with touch screens and charts, pointing at arrows like they’re ESPN analysts: “And if you look here, the Russians have advanced from the east, and if you look here, the Palestinians have advanced their desperation.” It’s not news, it’s a video game. They’re narrating body counts like it’s Monday Night Football. “And that makes 25 civilian deaths today — back to you, Tom!”

And here’s the callback, folks: the Ukraine war got a branding kit. Blue and yellow filters, celebrity fundraisers, heartfelt speeches. It had marketing value. Israel and Palestine? That one doesn’t get the package deal. That one’s “complicated.” You can’t slap a “Stand with Gaza” frappuccino on the Starbucks menu without losing half your customers. You can’t make a “Peace in the Middle East” Happy Meal without getting angry letters from both sides.

Because let’s face it: the only thing that matters to the media, the politicians, and the corporations — is comfort. Who’s comfortable crying for whom? Who’s comfortable buying a T‑shirt, a flag, or a latte? They’ll let you have outrage, sure — but only the kind they can monetize.

So don’t be fooled. All these wars, all these conflicts, it’s the same damn play. Money, land, power, and whose God has the bigger dick. That’s it. Same script, different actors. And the media? They’re the hype men. They don’t care who dies, as long as the ratings live.

And you know what the real punchline is? The war doesn’t end when the bombs stop. The war ends when the advertisers get bored. That’s when they move on to the next tragedy, the next “special report,” the next human suffering package they can sell you in 30‑second intervals between soap and soda commercials.

So remember, folks: when you’re watching the news and you see bombs falling and anchors crying, just ask yourself — what’s the slogan for this war? Because there’s always a slogan. And behind that slogan is a network, a sponsor, and a bunch of executives who are praying — not for peace, but for good ratings

Ignorance is a bliss!!!

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The ignorant are ignorant of their ignorance

This is the image of the planet we live on. This is the image of earth. This is not a depiction of a millenniums’ old idea. This is the depiction of a 21st century idea. Just google flat earth if you don’t trust me. There is something called ‘The flat earth society’. No, they do not belong to some tribe with no contact with outside world. Also, its not that their families have been home schooled for hundreds of years. It was established in 20th century. They are based out of the US of A and have followers from all around the world. They hold annual conferences to discuss and debunk the conspiracy theory called a round earth. The below animation is from their official website explaining the answer to the question, of how night and day occur on earth


So, how do you feel having known this mind blowing phenomenon? You must be thinking that these these are just a bunch of morons without any work. But that’s not true either. They have members from all walks of life. I saw the interview of a person attending this conference. He flew from New Zealand to the US. He was asked, couldn’t you see the curvature of earth from the window in the Aeroplane? He said that he never looks out of a plane window.

There is a medical condition called Psychological myopia. It refers to the tendency in decision makers to focus on information immediately related to their judgment and to ignore other, less prominent, pieces of information. Because we, as human beings, often ignore pieces of information in decision-making processes, it makes us think short-sightedly. The flat earth society is a case of extreme psychological myopia. In this age of information, believing such things might be called ignorance. It’s not that these people don’t have access to information. They just choose to ignore the facts that they don’t. So, for them facts become opinions. 

So, this proves that ignorance is sometimes a choice. Right? I say sometimes, because I give a benefit of doubt to all those people who do not have access information. Now that you know what Psychological myopia, tell me, Do you suffer from this condition? Well, the answer is ‘you wouldn’t know’. I am not saying that you also believe that the earth is flat, I mean how would an ignorant know of his ignorance? Ignorance doesn’t just mean not knowing things, its also thinking that you know all that there is to know. 

Honestly ask yourself, do you treat each and every information in an equal and unbiased manner? If you answer No, it means that you are ignorant of your ignorance. If you answer Yes, then again you are ignorant. You might find this argument unreasonable. Let’s say you read/watch news everyday. It doesn’t mean you are well informed. Mark twain famously said this:

I would prefer being uninformed. In this information age, most people are misinformed. This is because either they have a single source of information which is biased or you have multiple sources of information which are again biased. Due to capitalism and greed, the world is now a place where everyone is trying to put forward their opinions as facts. 

This makes it vital that you know which information to discard. The world is full of people who read their news from Whatsapp and Facebook. This is causing a great deal of harm to us as a society. From web sites like like Infowars to the companies that create false and misleading content to be circulated on the in internet. From the conspiracy theories such as Neil Armstrong’s moon landing was filmed in a hollywood set to the the theories that Hillary Clinton is running a child sex ring out of a pizza parlor. The corporations and politicians are taking advantage of gullible people by constantly brain washing them with false information. 

In a way the burden of truth is too difficult to carry, so people take solace in living in small boxes they built around themselves to block out all the uncomfortable facts. This enables them to live a happy life. But are such lives meaningful?
A quarter of Americans surveyed could not correctly answer that the Earth revolves around the sun and not the other way around, according to a report from the National Science Foundation. There was a conversation between a scholar and his pupil that went something like this:
                    Scholar: Why did you think that the sun revolved around the earth?
                    Pupil: Because it looked like that 
                    Scholar: What would earth revolving around the sun look like?

Each one of us suffer from this tunnel vision where we block out all the things that we don’t like. The only difference between individual is the width of the tunnel. 
So,how wide is your vision?


Mad men

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How they make you buy their shit!!


Mad men is a series about an advertising firm. When I saw it, I wondered about the aptness of the title. If you watch an ad break on Indian television, you will know that it was correct. They are really mad.

Earlier, product advertising was all about that the product offered. Now they have adopted the most creative, unique and convoluted ways any sane mind could imagine. This is why I think they are insane (in other words mad). 

Always playing a fair game

No wonder English is a language of white people. England is the home for whitest of white people. Fair means both being light complexion and treating people equally(Because that’s exactly what all white skinned races did). Then there is a small matter of phrases like black sheep. On a side note… English, like many other European languages is actually a Germanic language, named after a medieval German tribe called Angels. See, Hitler was just trying to reunite lost families. 

All the consumer goods manufacturing giants in India and some from abroad have felt very very bad for Indians. They cried their hearts out because it was not fair that god hadn’t made Indians fair. So, there flooded markets with creams that can make a crow look like a dove. Some take 7 weeks, some take a few more. But advertising firms have made sure that they make Indians believe these fairness creams can wipe the Melanin off their skins. According to these advertising firms, all Indians were born sinners(dark skinned) and their fairness creams are giving their lives for our sins. So, they need to believe in the creams and accept them. The sales show that this concept did not help just Christianity.Like toilets there are separate ones for men and women. Looking at their ads I started believing that it will be only a matter of time when all Indians will be so fair skinned that we will see tanning saloons opening. Indians can then do what all the other white fair skinned people did and colonise the world, with flags bearing fairness cream logos. A global expansion of this products can end racism by making everyone look like Caucasians. 

Solving Unemployment

What is the most important attribute needed to get any job? Attitude? Commitment? Hard work? Wrong! Wrong! and Wrong again!
You need to have the whitest shirt in the whole universe and this can be achieved by using the washing powder with a technology so advanced that aliens are planning to Invade the earth to steal the formula.

Beating themselves up for us

New beats the old. Correct? May be in some instances. But according to the advertising breaks on my television all hair and skin products are always new and improved. They evolve every quarter. I guess all the unsold bottles of that shampoo that promised to make your hair stronger than a steel cable(but you ended up half bald) sat down, lay some eggs and they hatched into new and advanced version of that shampoo. They keep bettering and beating their older version in their own game. What for? For us. Its just for us consumers. The scientists of the world are burning away their lives like a candle to give your face a powder coat that can last for an extra hour. So that your co-workers can still recognise when you need to put in an extra hour.

Match makers

In 2009, a hoax news was circulating all over India. A man sued Axe after not being able to attract a single girl after using the deodorant. If you watch Indian advertisements now, the concept is still the same. There is only one way to sell a deodorant to a guy. Tell him that a girls skirt will fall off as soon as she smells him in their deodorant. I do smell a lot of deodorants at work, but I’m having trouble finding any skirts on the floor. There must be someone from advertising firm, picking these up before I see them. If you are not looking for something serious, there are some that can help you with one night stands also. 
Then there are other products like tooth pastes, mouth fresheners, shoes, clothing, chocolates and most recently ice-creams. All these products are made to help you find your perfect match. 

Health is wealth

There is a saying in a lot of Indian languages that translates to ‘Health is wealth’. The advertising agencies read is as.. Your health is our wealth. Did you know there are germs every where. You need to wash your hands 100 times a day. Kids are more prone to these than adults. This must be a recent phenomenon. Because one of my favourite pass time as a kid was to play with a stick in mud. That never got me sick. Was I immune to all the germs or did all these germs evolve recently?

Also, there are other products to boost your health in a lot of other ways. There are pills that can help you out race a street dog. There are air purifiers that can covert hell to heaven. There are mosquito repellents where each machine is equipped with a laser beam to kill bugs.


The scary movie

Now that the above health care contingent has scared you enough to make you think twice before you touch, drink or eat anything. There is another contingent who makes scarier movies. The Insurance guys. Perhaps the only guys who pray equally (if not more) for your well-being apart from your family and friends. They show you the weird ways the grim reaper will come for you and consequences that it will have on your loved ones. Only money can turn their grief into happiness. So, you should give them your money. This is how you make people buy insurance.

Expert’s choice

Expert is the most knowledgeable person on a given topic. You have to trust their judgement. Ignore it an you peril. This is why it takes me 2 and a half hours to brush my teeth. Well I have to brush my teeth with all the tooth pastes that experts have recommended. Don’t I? There are so many products that claim to be recommended by experts that I started questioning the meaning of expert. I’m planning to write to oxford dictionary folks to change it to ‘Recommends anything when paid enough’

I expect to add more things to this post in days to come. All this is just the tip of the ice berg. There are numerous other Indian advertising gems. Some honourable mentions. 

There is jewellery to help a girl get married. Thumb’s up is only for Bollywood stunt men. Always take the chocolate that strangers offer you. Then you have to smear it all over your face and then lick it off your face. Women can achieve anything, but only during their periods. Every car is number 1, so if you want one, you have to buy them all.

Don’t even get me started on tele-marketers. Their products belong in noble prize nominations. They can make you grow tall even if your genetic makeup says otherwise. There are belts that can make you loose weight faster than a Formula 1 car ride. What the heck. They even have a cure for diabetes. 

Samvaad – Vivaad

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Sometimes words hurt more than actions

“Beliefs don’t change facts. Facts, if you’re reasonable should change your beliefs” – Rick Gervais

“If Ideas are strong they can stand criticism” – Salman Rushdie

The heading of the post is an age old Indian concept. I first heard it from my manager during a personality development training. Both Samvaad and Vivaad are words of Sanskrit origin.
Samvaad can be translated to words like dialogue, parley & communication. Vivaad is dispute or controversy. Both of these have a great relevance in the present age of social media, where everyone’s voice can be heard all over the world. There are debates all over the comments section of every news article, a youtube video, a Facebook post or a tweet. Though both Samvaad and Vivaad happen in every debate. Samvaad is the only necessary thing. Vivaad is equivalet of trolling someone on the internet. Samvaad is something only a wise and matured person can do. Where as Vivaad is an animalistic behaviour. In simple language its the difference between discussion and an argument.

I’ve borrowed some content from Wikipedia to give a little broader classification.

Vada, the honest debate
Vada, the good or honest debate, is constituted by the following characteristics:

  • Establishment (of the thesis) and refutation (of the counter-thesis) should be based upon adequate evidence or means for knowledge (pramana) as well as upon (proper) hypothetical or indirect reasoning (tarka).
  • The conclusion should not entail contradiction with any tenet or accepted doctrine (siddhanta).
  • Each side should use the well-known five steps of the demonstration of an argument explicitly.
  • They should clearly recognise a thesis to be defended and a counter thesis to be refuted.
Jalpa, the bad debate
Jalpa is defined in Nyayasutra as a debate where, among the stated characteristics of the first type of debate, only such characteristics as would seem appropriate would be applicable. In addition, the debater can use, for the establishment of his own position and for the refutation of the opponent’s thesis, such means as quibbling, illegitimate rejoinders and any kind of clincher. Three kinds of quibbling are listed, twenty-four kinds of illegitimate rejoinders and twenty-two kinds of clinchers.

Vitanda, the wrangling debate
The third debate mentioned in the Nyayasutra is called vitanda, which has sometimes been translated as wrangling. It is defined as a debate where no counter-thesis is established. In other words, the debater here tries to ensure victory simply by refuting the thesis put forward by the other side. It is sometimes claimed to be a type of bad debate, for the only goal is victory, as in the second type, and the use of such trickery as quibbling and illegitimate rejoinder is allowed. 

There is no Vada anymore there is only Jalpa or Vitanda. 
In ancient India, scholars regularly engaged in Vaada. This was a way to broaden the horizons, learn another perspective and come to a common conclusion on any given topic. The whole purpose of the exercise is to learn, not to Win. In today’s are, the trolls win a lot of battles but they all lose the war against ignorance. If this post is spotted by these cyber bullies, I’m sure I’ll have to see a lot of insults in the comments section. This is not limited to social media and other internet platforms. This happens in real life interactions, can be seen in News channels and also the reality shows.

I’m not saying you have to be politically correct. It is not possible to be politically correct if you are having a  passionate discussion. Be blunt, straightforward, in the face, aggressive.  
Be blunt is stating the truth, be straightforward with your ideas, Stare the topic in the fact, attack it. But don’t attack the person making the counter argument. One way to avoid this is not to take things personally. Do not get offended if you are being proved wrong, resisting it is fine but evading it will only leave you less informed that you would have been if you continued the discussion.

India, the topic of the decade has been Narendra Modi. Just the mention of his name can give rise to a never ending argument. This debate even lead some new words to be added to the urban dictionary of India. Modi is Feku, Rahul gandhi is Pappu, supporters of AAP are aaptards and supporters of Modi are Bhakts. Calling names was old school so the millennials started making up new ones. Some names like Internet Hindus which were coined as an insult are now worn as a badge of honour.  In not one of these debates, have I seen a person accept that his perception was wrong even when there was sufficient evidence presented to refute them. The whole process involves only defending of once own opinion. So what’s wrong with correcting one self? Wouldn’t it be a self improvement exercise? 

When I see a group of people debating online or in person. I’m always reminded of a wonderful show on MTV called Yo Mama. May be I’ve grown too old understand the present generations, may be this is the way of the world now. But for the greater good, I hope it is just a short-term phenomenon.