One smile and a hug is all it takes

While the recent TV short by OLX manipulates the ground realities and the stressed out relationship between army and the locals, it makes us believe that there is a slight possibility to make things better with tools as inexpensive as a hug, a smile, a picture

Popular in the advertising industry for its ‘Bech De’ campaign, OLX has had some of the best TVCs, radio ads and of course the long-narration and extended slew of advertisements to not only increase the consumer base but also make a name in the market. And while the online classified platform is doing great business in India and abroad, its recent ad film shot in Kashmir wasn’t received well by some people.

While the ad was shot in the beautiful valleys of Kashmir, which were highly exploited in Bollywood movies and ‘Incredible India’ campaign TVCs, the apparent ‘misguiding’ advert tends to have normalised the relation between the Kashmir locals and the military.

This is because the relationship between the two was portrayed as good friends, who are with each other in all the odds and evens, against the actual stressed connection long debated on. The ad makers seem to have a blemished idea of civilian-military relation, as the relation is too complex to be compressed in a TV short. Like they say – adverts can be misleading – this ad by OLX is just adding to the already existing stereotypes on Kashmir.

Masquerading as a feel-good ad, the TVC is polite and passive in its content and setting. Nevertheless, the story of a Kashmiri shopkeeper Bashir, who uses the OLX app to get a better phone and help his friend Rajesh (who is an Army personnel) adore the picture of his newborn daughter for the first time, took us away with a strong emotional connect.

That followed by an emotion-filled hug makes you feel that if only all those disputes could be resolved by one picture, one smile, one hug, the world would be so much better. Cleverly manipulating the ground reality of deep militarisation, the ad by OLX not only managed to comfort the viewers, but also created a possibility of the soldiers in Kashmir being friendly with the locals and not the other way.

However, the fact that Kashmir locals will not take the ad in a positive way, cannot be neglected. That’s the thing about advertising; one cannot always convince everyone in the defined target group. And for those who find the ad as a disguised propaganda,

well designed to sell the disguised soft relations between Kashmiris and the Army; there is propaganda behind every advertisement, there is alluring, there is perusal, there is a little manipulation of facts. For if at all, the ad tends to develop a soft corner in the hearts of both Kashmiris and the Army,

what is so wrong about it? Propaganda like this for smooth internal relations in a country should be encouraged and positively embraced.