BADvertising and Role Models For Our Kids

I watch a bit of TV when my kids are around - can’t help it! They watch their favourite programs as I walk through the living room  on my way to and from the kitchen. I too watch what the kids watch when I sit down to chat or eat with them.  Usually I don’t really watch a program fully unless it is a documentary and I am alone. The only things on TV I get to see completely are the commercials or advertisements!  They are too short to miss.

I saw one particular ad that caught my eye. It has undergone many changes or it appears that a different version of it is played during different programs.  This featured the popular singer, Katy Perry, who is spruiking a product called ‘ProActive.’ It seems to be basically a zit-cream to help rid one of pimples. In listening to her songs, which can only be fully appreciated when watching the video that goes along with it, it becomes clear that if there were any imperfections, like a pimple or a freckle almost anywhere on her body, it would soon become obvious to her ‘listeners’ (or should we say watchers?). Now, I or anyone can understand why a person like Katy Perry might have a justified ‘need’ for a zit cream. We would want nothing to detract from the perfection of her stunning looking body and many would take personal offense at a ‘zit’  or something that dares to transgress upon the person of Katy. While we listen to Katy explain at great length how she deals with these lumpy trespassers on her face, we can still sympathise. We are all duly shocked at a picture of Katy with a few pimples and really exhilarated at her vanquishing them with ProActive.

I was less sympathetic when I saw another young singing star,  a young lad called Justin Bieber, come up one day on the commercial for ProActive, saying how he found a zit on his face and how his confidence faltered and he was able to finish a recording because he was saved by the zit-cream. He too talked at length about his zit. It was not very pleasant to listen to him. I could listen to Katy Perry talk about it for ever, because it did not matter what she was saying, one could simply look at her talking animatedly for hours on end without getting bored. With Justin, it was different. It occurred to me to point out to him that if he was truly talented in singing, and relied only his vocal chords as he should, a zit on his face should not get in his way. He should simply get on with his singing. How did he get this far in life with his singing? Was he always kept zit-free to reach this far? I have known of truly exceptional singers whose faces were scarred- one even had leprosy. It did not matter a whit what they looked like, their voices were divine.

Now, coming back to Justin B, if his confidence was faltering because of a zit, then did it call into question his true singing ability? I know a few who questioned his singing talent even without a zit being visible… Still, it just struck me as mildly odd, as it does whenever I see a man too concerned about his looks, unless his profession absolutely demands it.

However, I was even more concerned and alarmed when I saw the latest version of the ProActive ad! It featured a world champion bike rider or roller skater who again seems to have a taken a hit to self-confidence when a little bump appeared across his face! Now, that really says something about his real talent in biking.  This ad seemed downright disturbing to me.

One wonders what will be next? Will we see top scientists and mathematicians stopped midway through a scientific calculation due to failing self-confidence because of a zit? Will top surgeons performing life-saving surgery need to get their zits cleared before we can trust them with our lives in danger? One wonders what formula Einstein used to clear his zits before he made his discovery. What were the secrets of Alexander the Great or Genghis Khan in maintaining a zit-free, world conquering confidence?

          What about our elite soldiers at the war-fronts? Do we assure them a sufficient supply of zit-cream? According to the ads, even with this miracle cream, it takes a few days for the zit to clear? How can we prepare a sufficient supply of zit–free commandos all ready for action in times of war?

I read stories about a famous slogan used to ‘sell’ something like this cream to millions of women who likely never needed the stuff. The slogan I am talking about is – “I’m worth it!”

It is considered a success because it helped sell a product worth probably millions or billions of dollars to make a handsome profit for the company. It perhaps did not make many women more handsome or worthy. It worked by actually making them feel worthless in their normal life - being a mother, a carer, a professional or whatever. The message was really, you should or do probably feel worthless. But if you wanted to feel worth something, you would buy the cream or shampoo because you were then worth something. You were worth something alright, to the company that made the stuff, but not worth anymore to the world than you would otherwise be. The idea seems to have been that they would feel worth something only if they bought and used this product, which was expensive. When it comes to women lacking in self-confidence, this is really preying on a vulnerable class.

Now, what is this sudden recent outbreak among men? Have they started to evolve into this new species that cannot perform at their job unless they look good or perfect? Or is this kind of commercial and talk that actually tries to start this kind of thinking? Are they trying to get a whole new generation of kids obsessed with their own looks, even kids of the gender that is usually genetically less worried about its looks when it comes to doing the job? All to make a buck! It is truly a shameful message to push out. It is BAD advertising. I call it BADvertising.

Copyright  (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2012

All rights reserved 

 The Currency in Heaven?

The summer days are starting to have an autumnal feel. The last of the fruits in the trees are ripening – apples and figs in my yard. It is a bit of a race to put all the fruits that are available to good use – the birds get the lion’s share (even if that sounds incongruous!) and I have given away a few to people around Alex. Needless to say, I have been getting a few things in return. I begin to realise there is an interesting process going on in my dealings with folks around Alex.

As I walk  or drive around, a beautiful, sunny evening with clear blue skies, surrounded by lovely green grass, mountains and the blue mist in the distance, a certain awareness of peace, gratitude and contentment takes over me. It lasts for a few moments until I suddenly realise from the news in the papers, the radio and TV that a lot of people and countries around the world are in deep trouble.  They owe too much money to others. For many there is no realistic chance of repaying – since debt is the one thing that grows without limit as time passes. The number of atoms in the universe is a finite number – there is a limit to it, but not the national debt of many famous nations. Those can and are growing exponentially (since compound interest is an exponential function). It is the tyranny of numbers.  We learned to try and watch for the trap of the exponential growth when we learned mathematics.

I can see the stress in the faces and actions of people all around. I can see the artificial attempts of ‘world leaders’ and government spokespersons to put on a smiling face and use complex words that sound reassuring. I can see them put off hard decisions or not telling it like it is. I see wonderful people, not able to pay off their debts, and struggling to live decently.  Some around the world are paying for the mistakes or the misdeeds of others – their own governments or retirement funds or investment ‘advisors’ and they neither had nor have a choice about it. For most, there is something about owing money that eats into the human soul and does not let one sleep easy.

Now, in my little personal world, a world away from all these turmoils, there is a certain domain where life is great, wonderful and pleasurable. I can see most others around me in Alex also have their own such worlds, all overlapping. There is a lot of trade going on in this parallel universe; truly I should call them exchanges or interactions. There is a ‘currency’ to this trade. It is truly a currency of Heaven!

It is inflation proof. After 2 or 20 years you only owe the same, not more. It is not measured in numbers! (Don’t get me wrong – I love math, working with numbers as a mental challenge, but not as a social one.) It is measured in feeling and is surprisingly accurate.

If you ‘borrow’ too much and don’t pay back sufficiently, it surely shows up – you and others will surely feel it. To trade in this ‘zone’, you just need to be tuned to your feelings and others’ feelings. In fact, if you are well tuned to other’s feelings, they become tuned to yours. If you care about them, they will care about you. If you want to make them feel special they want to make you feel so. In fact, it seems odd that you always get more than you give out and everyone involved feels the same way.

It is a currency in which you look forward to repayment, with interest and with pleasure. You don’t mind when you get deep into debt, sometimes you are flooded in this marvellous currency. You don’t mind, so long as you have the right currency yourself, you know you can and will clear the debt. It is one currency in which people look forward to lending, nay giving more and more, because they know, by a certain law you will get back all that you put into it and a bit more – a priceless feeling. Sure, there will be times when you will be cheated in this currency, and seemingly lose a lot. But it is not really your loss; it is the greater loss of the one who took advantage of you. You will have to learn to deal a bit wiser.

So what is this heavenly currency on earth, you ask? It is ‘Goodwill’, my friend.  Never leave home without it.

We are quite rich and well-to-do here in these parts around Alex.


Copyright  (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2012

All rights reserved 

Illusion and Imagination

Three friends were in the small country town that was seemingly dying. One of them wanted to move into it.

“There is nothing here. Look around. Just a couple of stores on the side of the road and a few houses on the main street, there is no future here. What do you see here?” asked one.

“I see a lot of stores, a bakery, a library, a busy main road. I see beautiful parks, holiday homes all around. I see a bright future, a large, thriving, community holding fun activities. I can hear the bands playing in the theatre, the children playing in the park over there,” replied the one who wanted to live there.

“Mmm… Do you really see all that in this near emptiness? That is an illusion!” remarked the first man.

“No, it is imagination,” said the third man.

The three friends were in the heart of the bustling metropolis of over a million people. Tall buildings all round, electric wires, trams, trains, buses, cars, traffic lights, crowds such that everyone barely had standing room, you had to keep moving to keep your space. It was noisy and loud all the time, but one got used to it as the background sound.

“What do you see around here?” asked one.

“I see a vast, quiet beach, with grassy paddocks leading up to thick bushland. Farmhouses scattered around, a wide main road with a few dozen shops and buildings on the main road.  I hear crickets chirping. I see a few roads branching off from the main road, with houses in neat rows on either side. Maybe a couple of thousand people living in the area,” said the second man.

“That’s an illusion,” said the first man.

“No, it is imagination,” said the third man.


Photos credit and Copyright  (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2012

All rights reserved 

The Sweetest Apples Are…

The apples are starting to ripen on the tree in my backyard.  It is late summer in March. The birds have gotten most of the fruit since I do not net or cover my trees mostly.  I try and cover a small portion of it and still get more fruit than I or my family can eat. Apples are good in that I can preserve them for long term use – slice and dehydrated them to form dried apple chips that go well in cereals or a snack – my daughter has a liking for them.

While I wait for the fruits on the tree to ripen, there are a lot of them fallen to the ground – due to wind, rain, insects and birds having a nip. Many of the fruits lying on the ground are perfectly intact, just not ripe enough and got knocked down - one cannot easily tell if such a fruit is ripe enough, usually it is not. Most fruit that have fallen down have the distinct beak marks of the cockatoos or parrots. Some such fruit still remain on the tree. One can tell almost exactly how many bites have been taken. If you see many bite marks on an apple it is a sure sign that the fruit is ripe, sweet and tasty. I try to use as much of the fruit as possible to make these ‘chips’ by cutting off the parts and sections that I can use and throw away the rest.

I don’t care much for fully intact and perfect fruit like from the supermarket. In fact, getting a polished, waxed manufactured looking apple without any superficial ‘flaws’ due to chemical treatment does not interest me. Until I take a bite from one, I can never know how it actually tastes like. If it does not taste to my liking and I have bought a kilo or more, it seems such a waste!

My home grown apples are tasty, I know from experience. They are truly organically grown, no hazardous chemicals involved. Most fruits have a weathered look and some spots. Only a few fruit from my tree, due to fortune, grow large, full, ripe and totally unmarked. Looking at these, a stranger could not tell whether they are tasty or not. But looking at a spotted or bitten fruit one can usually tell.

This brings me to something I have observed. People too are like apples. When I see an apple that wears a bite mark, has a worm, or got knocked down while a bird sat on it while nipping it, I know what it has been through. I know that it is scarred because it is sweet.  Others have tasted it and taken more than a bite. The character of the apple shows through for all to see. To me, that is the ‘perfect’ apple; not something that looks like a clone or model with nothing to distinguish it from any other with no idea how it is inside.

So, the sweetest apples are those that carry many bite marks …

Photos credit and Copyright  (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2012

All rights reserved