Is this a Volkswagen ad? What were they thinking?

Chanced upon the VW ad campaign in India on TV. The ads (print included) are unusually poorly done - did Wolfsburg really approve this brand embarrassment?

In a long and amateurish sequence, here's how the TV spot goes:

1. Kid shows up in a showroom. Inquires about 'booking a car for his 18th birthday' in a horrendous vernacular accent (premium segment, anyone?). Hear that first line again. Who at DDB and VW thought the delivery sounded about right?
2. Ingratiating dealership salesman calls the kid 'sir', and proceeds to fawn over him.
3. Kid goes on to talk about VW models for when he's 24, a CEO... a longwinded sequence while the salesman agrees for each choice earnestly.
4. This goes on for about a minute, and feels much longer.

And this was the best way DDB and VW thought to present themselves to India: a brand known worldwide for creative, innovative, and most importantly - memorable advertising. Perhaps they wanted to oversimplify things for the Indian consumer, and came up with this.

As a former VW owner, and as a fan of their campaigns in the United States, I am appalled at such substandard communication from the brand.

To think VW India and the agency are actually pleased with their work. Since Porsche and VW are together now - did they copy an older Porsche ad and do this version for India?

How's this for chutzpah? Gatecrash a White House state dinner

Hear about the couple that went in uninvited to the state dinner for the prime minister of India? This revelation made me laugh out loud, especially the picture of her with prize goof Joe Biden.

MSNBC:'Once inside the dinner tent, they got pictures that appeared to show them with ABC’s Robin Roberts, Bollywood composer AR Rahman, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, Obama Chief of Staff Emanuel (identified as “Ron” in the couple’s Facebook photo caption) and two with a grinning vice president.'

He had to be part of this, if not anyone else - the veep. I thought his pose here was very appropriate for their caper.

Per MSNBC - 'While the White House offered no official explanation, it appears to be the first time in modern history that anyone has crashed a White House state dinner.'

I wonder about the kind of thought and prep that went into this endeavor. And now it's all over the news; for more, look up Conan and Letterman next week.

They'll always find an appropriate highlight, won't they?

From the NYT, August 16
Article about a Bollywood actor detained at Newark airport.

'In the India Day parade in Manhattan, Pooja Patel, 15, was carried as part of a troupe advertising an online matrimonial site.' (Pic: Damon Winter/The New York Times)

Courtesy Winnie Hu, readers can assume child marriage is the norm in India, and in the community. Nice.

At least it wasn't Somini Sengupta this time. Winnie beat her to it.

Slumdog - what is the fuss about?

What, I'm wrong? I should have bought in?

I thought Slumdog Millionaire was no fun, had unreal situations, and reinforced god-awful stereotypes. I kept looking for a magical moment, and there weren't any. Also, where was that great music I kept hearing about?

Must have missed something amidst all the hype. Viral 'you gotta see this'.

And why, why were India people raving about it so much? Reality aside, is this what they'd like to be associated with?

English - unique to India

I wrote up this list after I came across something similar on Wikipedia. I read and added to this article - most of it rings so true.

Especially this section on commonly used phrases. These were my contributions:

I got a firing/I was fired by him - 'I got yelled at by him', not 'I was terminated'
Give me a missed call - 'I won't pick up the phone, but I'll know you're here by the caller ID.' Much cheaper, eh? Unique to India since the mobile phone revolution.
Sharma sir is not here - same as Sharma-ji is not here, respectfully. No knighthood suffix.
I will make a move now - means 'I'm leaving', not 'making a move on someone', or anything related to chess.
Where are you put up? means 'Where do you live'?. Heard often in S.India.
Where do you stay? is the same as 'Where do you live?' or 'Where's your house?'
It is cheap and best - It's good quality at a low price - a great deal
I don't take meat/milk/whatever - 'I don't eat meat/ drink milk' etc
It is worst - 'It is really bad or of very poor quality'.
Looking for my life partner - 'Looking to get married'
Wheatish complexion - Seen in matrimonial ads. Means 'not dark skinned, tending toward light'
Too good! - Excellent, awesome.
The father of Anshul is not here - 'My husband isn't here'.

Now observe. =)