What I've liked: The Boost TVC (which has been on air for some time now) with all its fire and passion scores quite high on my list of favourites this fortnight.
Sachin Tendulkar and Brett Lee battling it out on a different playing field is interesting enough but it is the execution of the TVC that adds sizzle to what would have been just another celebrity-endorsed ad.
Sachin and Brett Lee to the power of ten respectively, against an ominous backdrop of the heavens themselves readying for the big finish is set to the accompaniment of an extremely well-scored and dramatic sound track -- all of which add up to a pulse-racing forty seconder.
And it's quite a leap from what Boost ads normally are. Almost Nike-esque in its intensity, the ad takes the brand onto (sorry for the pun) a whole new playing field altogether.
Considering it is defined as a milk-drink one had got quite accustomed to seeing children along with their 'heroes', in happy adventure-oriented scenarios.
And then suddenly this 'lean, mean fighting machine' of an ad bursts onto our screens radiating phenomenal energy. This ties in perfectly with the 'energy drink platform'.
The children are gone (I did spot a brief appearance at the end in some edits), and we have a sharp, focused approach where 'winning' is key.
Of course the base-line with the new key word 'winning' added to the existing one sums it all up. And when you think about it, it is quite aspirational for the pre-teens of today.
In fact it is so grown-up, I wouldn't be surprised if the ad has made it absolutely cool for twenty something-year-olds to proudly stir up their mug of Boost in public.
I guess, time will tell if this image change will work for the brand, but something tells me that it has pointed itself in an interesting new direction.
What I've ;earned: A perpetual addiction called desire.
Desires are strange demons. We work ourselves to the bone every single waking minute to satiate some desire or the other -- whether we are ambitious, young 17-year-olds or high-profile 50 or 60-year-olds.
Yet strangely when we fulfil them, they lead us to lust and greed for more, instead of leaving us satisfied; and if left unfulfilled they lead us to anger and frustration!
Given that all humans are born with this 'virus' in our 'operating systems' all of us have experienced the agony of being in either state at some time or the other. Just like King Yayati and his quest for eternal youth.
To cut a long story short, King Yayati through a series of unfortunate events prayed that he be younger for longer so that all his desires could be completely satisfied.
The only way he could achieve this was by exchanging his old age with a willing son's youth. His boon was granted and he added a much desired forty to fifty years to his life and became king of all the material world.
But of course, after enjoying his extra time he still remained unfulfilled. It was then he concluded that trying to satiate desire was akin to adding ghee to fire. A lesson that is impossible to understand unless you experience it.
After having spent many decades in a profession that perpetuates desire, I think I can safely say that I am most familiar with this animal.
Which is why I know that the only way to gain control over it is by, as the Gita puts it, "withdrawing your senses from the sense objects as a tortoise withdraws it limbs within the shell". A really tough exercise but the only option available if you do want to put an end to desire!
King Yayati's example is as graphic a moral tale as we can get but the sheer addictive exhilaration of wanting, getting and wanting more deafens us to all sane advice till it gets us in the end.
Here's hoping that on that eventual day of enlightenment this little piece you read today will be of some use!
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