Too Many Ads, Send Help Please
MRUNMAYEE MAINKAR
FY BSC 2024-2028
Estimated Reading Time ~ 4 minutes
While watching the IPL or any other tournament on a TV, laptop or phone I am very much focussed on the game, more focussed than I was in the 10th grade physics class. And the reason for this extreme focus is not just my interest in that sport, but also the countless distractions which are the advertisements. I have seen Ajay Devgn promote Vimal Paan Masala more than I can remember. I can successfully recite the “Come ko tum aana bolo, go ko tum jana bolo” rap by Baba Sehgal in the Dream11 ad of Mumbai Indians. Listening to Thala singing “Bole Jo Koyal” made me cry and question my existence.
In the IPL 2024, more than 200 brands had been advertised. TATA Salt, Dream11, ThumsUp, Zomato, MakeMyTrip, Cadbury Dairy Milk, Jio Cinema and many more had got themselves promoted. They specifically ensure that the cricket team members are included in those ads, not just speaking about them but also by participating in funny skits and dances. Overseas players speaking in Hindi is one of the many strategies employed by these companies. Another way of promotion is by getting their logos printed on the jerseys. This way, anytime they zoom in on a player, the jerseys do the talking. Even around the boundary line, ads are visible. Not to mention the excessive promotions before the IPL starts. You will get to see ads even after a player hits a ball or has just bowled. You will never not find an advertisement regarding the same on any TV channel, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, X, etc. during the IPL season.
However funny or creative those ads may be, it does get annoying and tiring after some time to be constantly advertised to. Is it really that necessary for sponsors to continuously promote themselves? Is it really that necessary to let the world know about your brand every 5 minutes during a match? The constant display of advertisements is quite over stimulating and tiring to the eye. There is also an inverse effect to repetitive advertising. The more times the ads of anything are displayed, the less effective it becomes. This in turn defeats the entire purpose of advertisements. Instead of providing a good and uninterrupted watch, they seem more fixated on convincing people to buy their products/services. Given an option, I would rather listen to Sidhu Paaji say “Muft ka chandan, ghis mere nandan” a thousand times than listen to Dream11 telling me to bet for Sunrisers Hyderabad.
As stated before, the IPL 2024 had more than 200 brands sponsoring them. The 2022 FIFA World Cup had 7 title sponsors, namely Adidas, Wanda, Qatar Airways, Hyundai, Coca Cola and Visa, along with a few others. The Big Bash League (BBL), the Australian equivalent of the IPL, has about 14 sponsors such as KFC, Weber, Toyota, Fox Sports, etc. There are other similar competitions across nations, but it’s clear that the IPL is the one going crazy with ads. It is kind of unbelievable that the IPL would have more sponsors than the World Cup, which is a global event.
Instead of displaying advertisements after every 5 minutes, they could do so after 30-40 minutes of a match. Since they would already be promoting themselves by printing their logos on the players’ jerseys and along the boundary line which is visible to everyone, they can tone down the ads. Restricting the number of ads being displayed can also be effective. I am not saying that they should not advertise at all. Those who sponsor should definitely promote themselves. But it should be done in moderation. The main aim of advertisements is to let people know about your brand, not to bombard or force them to buy your stuff. Done properly, it can actually have a good impact and people will respond positively. As the saying goes, too much of anything is good for nothing. So I am just going to hope that in the next IPL season, I won’t be subjected to so many promos, or else I will have to accept my fate and do nothing but recite the Hanuman Chalisa, hoping that one day my wish will come true.