Break free from shackles

Be it the groundbreaking Vicks’s advertorial normalising transgender motherhood, or the thought-provoking Nike’s commercial about breaking conventions featuring female Arab athletes; 2017 has indefinitely been a year of impactful ads, which has taken the world by storm.  And, now, the latest in line to break the internet is none other than Heineken’s new #OpenYourWorld campaign, which celebrates varied perspectives through an intelligent portrayal of how to get people end differences in perspectives over a mug of beer. With advertisers having gauged the new-age viewers sensibilities, shoddy stereotypes and objectification of women have taken a backseat, only to make way for hard-hitting commercials. Is the trend welcoming of a new-age era of mindful screening? We get an expert to comment...

Speaking of the same, Sachin A Tantry, a social media expert and new media professor, Jain University, opines, “The internet is a dangerous place, and a very intelligent one at the same time. Which means, nobody really gets away with a blooper. Stars and marketers have realised this, which is indeed really healthy. Also, the fact that we have myriad sources to information, it absolutely makes no sense to show the viewer what he/she already knows. With fairness creams having received severe flak and film and ad makers being cautious about not working around gender stereotypes,  the trend of impactful advertorials is just reflective of how much we’ve come ahead, from gullible viewers to critics with a mind.”