This article was first published as a prize-winning entry in the Dec 2018 edition of the campus newsletter on marketing, Niche (Niche on Facebook here and on Twitter @iimaniche). I have added YouTube links to some old ads.

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Some of the earliest Indian television ads have been by the soap brand Lifebuoy. Our parents, if not we, would recall how Lifebuoy entered the market as a long red bar of carbolic soap, often cut into two halves before being used, for that was an age of patent frugality. The bathing experience, with a bucket and mug, was not very similar to the shower in the tandurusti ad, but there you have it: advertising is more aspirational than realistic. How, then, has such advertising portrayed its actors?

First, the children. Who can forget the adorable girl and her sweet way of saying, “I love you, Rasna”? While Rasna might now be passé, the idea of presenting children in advertising, targeting either parents or children or both, is an incredibly winning strategy. Remember the boy beating up a puddle on the road in the Surf excel daag acche hai campaign? As all seasoned advertisers know (and many others suspect), the road to a mother’s heart (and her purse) lies through children.

That brings us to the portrayal of the Indian woman. In the initial days, she used to scrub clothes and whiten them with Sunlight, today her husband is expected to #ShareTheLoad using Ariel. She has moved from crying as required to marrying again with a child in tow. And yet, she must have white skin, hairless legs, smooth hair, and perfect clothes. Because that is the only way for her to get a scholarship, secure a job, find a date, look like a woman, and most of all, be accepted in society.

And what about the Indian man? He too has changed: from the family man of hamara Bajaj to the dashing youngster on a Hero Passion Pro, from the macho man of VIP Frenchie who thwarts the villain to the equally nonchalant college student of Cadbury who shares his chocolate with a girl. He cooks for his wife, at least he is ready to make Bru Gold coffee. He is an ardent fan of personal care and cosmetics products, because now he too needs white skin.

Finally, we look at the most common actors of all, the celebrity endorsers. From urging us to “taste the thunder” with Thumps Up to “open happiness” with Coca Cola, celebrities tell us how to make the impossible possible. Wear Lakme cosmetics and you are another Kareena. Drink Lipton green tea for an hourglass figure like that of Anushka. We know, then and now, that the real winners in celebrity endorsements might often be the celebrities and the brands. But we still love them!

Clearly, the actors in Indian television advertising have come a long way. But having traversed all this distance and time, have they come very far? The question is difficult to answer.

Note: For additional examples and more details, please refer to ‘Nawabs, Nudes, Noodles’: India through 50 Years of Advertising, by Ambi Parameswaran.