Today is the day to vote, people (staying in Delhi)! Let’s do better than Mumbai, shall we? (Gaaa! I won’t be able to vote since my name is not on the electoral lists yet.) I posted this earlier, but I feel it’s necessary to repeat this message from Puff Daddy on the importance of voting.
A lot of campaigns have been launched in India for the election process. Google India launched a site dedicated to information on the Lok Saba 2009 elections in association with Hindustan Times. One of the most energy-filled – and irritating jingle-filled campaigns – has been the Pappu Doesn’t Vote campaign, brainchild of Delhi electoral officer Satbir Bedi. Tata Tea is laughing all the way to the bank over the success of its Jaago Re ad campaign, which is reported to have excellent brand recall. FM channels have played their part too (apart from the irritating Pappu jingles). Times of India jumped into the fray too with its Lead India campaign.
The least Times of India could have done is to come up with a their own idea for Lead India. Check out this TVC called Kuch Nahi Ho Sakta…
…and compare it to the American Don’t Vote campaign…
The only difference that I see is that the Indian version has ham acting, but let’s forgive these people as they are not talented. What’s left to rip-off then – Declare Yourself?
Actor Vinod Tiwari (the guy in Jaago Re ads) seems to have got a theka from God-ji to to star in all ad campaigns even remotely related to voting. He’s the poster boy for the No Criminals campaign, Too bad he’ll probably be out of work for the next five years then. What would be interesting to see is how many of these websites (US or Indian) are around uring the time of the next elections. Then we’ll know that corporate India cares about these things rather than just trying to piggy-back on a ‘charitable’ cause.
Who am I supporting this election (even though I can’t vote)? There’s no doubt it’s Congress. Congress might have done wrong things in the past but if you’re talking about now they are the most sensible party of all. Can you imagine Mayawati sitting across the table with Barack Obama in a global leaders summit? There’s a reason why Pakistan walks away with so many lollipops from the global community and India remains furiously indignant – and that’s because our neighbours across the border have more smooth-talking heads of state. (George Dubya sure must have found understanding Musharraf easier than Pranab Mukherjee.)
Besides, BJP is the only viable alternative available (let’s not kid ourselves. ‘Third Front’ / ‘Fourth Leg’ / ‘Fifth Hand’ whatever is a myth) and I definitely do not want them to come to power. They speak as if the economic situation would have been any better had they been in power. It’s a global recession dammit! For LK Advani’s online advertising campaign alone BJP is spending Rs 230 crores on Google AdSense (I came across the data in a newspaper, but couldn’t track down the link right now). I even saw LK Advani ads on TechCrunch once. Since AdSense slots are sold on an auction basis, BJP must be placing ridiculously high prices to outbid everyone else and get itself display on a high-traffic website like TechCrunch.
The level of maturity they show with nothing but pure rhetoric attacks makes me feel glad that we have a D.Phil from Oxford and an MBA from Harvard at the helm managing financial matters in these difficult times. Besides, if Congress loses or an unstable coalition is formed, then stock market is going to take a sharp dive. Not good for currency exchange rates.
Oh, and if you want to stay up-to-date with all news on Indian Lok Sabha elections 2009 check out Yahoo! India’s website on it. It features comprehensive news coverage from various media, quick facts about parties, videos, manifestoes, quotes, et al. Don’t miss the ‘Compare Manifesto’ feature! And those who can – get out there and vote!
