There was a debate in advertising circles in the last decade in India about the need for women in ads that concern male products. E.g. a Gillette razor or a bike or shaving cream, when she is neither the end user of the product nor the influencer in purchase nor the decider of the type of brand to be purchased.

It seems from the type of ads seen on television lately; the debate has been laid to rest. Right from an innerwear ad to deodorant to bikes to cell phones, the ads have a sensuous appeal. Recent examples such as the Axe deodorant ad featuring the creative concept viewer interaction with the product i.e. calling Tanya (a fictitious character) and talking to her on the phone. Axe has many such concepts with women being at the centre with the product. The Chocolate ad, the ad where many hundreds of girls run towards a man stranded on a beach, all have been creative but with a common appeal of sensuality.

The Yamaha FZ bike commercial has 3 different girls in the ad barely wearing anything and concentrating on the bike. It shows these girls preferring bikes over the guy.

The fuel den deodorant ad by Elder Pharmaceuticals has a girl actually removing the button of her shirt. Can it get nay more enticing. It almost borders on the eroticism. Elder is a new entrant in the deodorant market and it wants to create a buzz with the ad. At some point very soon, there will be activism against the ad and it will give it free publicity. As they say “No publicity is bad publicity”

The Brylcream hair style ad shows both the guy and girl in swimsuit. What has it got to do with hair gel will some one please tell me?

The Wild stone Deodorant Ad takes sensuality to its end. They show a couple doing sex in the ad. Of course just the face is seen and there is not skin show but the question that needs to be answered is what about Indian culture. I am not being a conservative but people will not understand it in this way.

The most bewildering is the Sony cell phone ad where the girl is sitting cross legged at a party a la Sharon stone in ‘Basic Instinct’. The ad focuses on the sensuous aspect but there is nothing in the ad that would want a prospect to buy the cell phone. It manages to catch the attention of the viewer but there is no specific desire or interest in the product for the prospect.

The surprising issue is about the creative content given by top notch advertising agencies. Where are the Ogilvys, Mccanns and Leo Burnetts? The trophy National Creative Directors (NCDs) that these agencies hold, where are there contributions. Can we not have an ad sailing though on creative content only, just like the Zoozoo ads, the happy dent ads among others?

Sensuality should be the last resort to selling a product unless it’s a condom or a contraceptive pill or any product which deals with sex. Let us see some ‘creatively’ creative work.