Channel war

In a bid to grab eyeballs, TV shows are spoofing each other’s campaigns

It’s an age of  grabbing eyeballs by hook or by crook. That’s the philosophy that channels believe in at the moment. As Set Max came with the campaign Manoranjan Ka Baap for the ongoing IPL tournament, Channel V has come up with a counter campaign. The channel, campaigning for their model hunt show Get Gorgeous, has used the tagline Manoranjan Ki Maa Ki.

T Gangadhar, marketing head of Set Max seems to be quite proud of the fact that a rival channel has been inspired by their campaign. “I’ve not seen the Channel V campaign. But a lot of people have told me about it. Taking off from our campaign is the purest form of flattery,” he says. He adds, “Whenever people will see this campaign, they will be reminded of our original IPL campaign. So, it’s actually giving a further push to our promotion.”

Interestingly, when Set Max was bidding for IPL, they wanted to promote it as the ultimate form of entertainment. “We know that the soaps and reality shows on GEC drive the masses, but we wanted to show that cricket can be  entertainment too,” Gangadhar says.

No spokesperson from Channel V, however wishes to be quoted on the campaign spoof as there have been huge changes in the management of late. But one spokesperson merely confirms, “Yes, the Get Gorgeous campaign is a take off on  the IPL campaign. I won’t be able to divulge any more details.” Interestingly, Channel V’s bawdy take on Max’s IPL is actually proving that channel wars have only intensified with multiple channels coming into existence.

m_ranjib@dnaindia.net