Is it easy to get away with obscenity on radio?

Unlike television, radio does seem to give a chance to everybody to experiment with words in their own way.

Experimenting with fantasy in advertising had lead to a ban on many ad campaigns. Some of the recent underwear, sanitary napkin, condom and even deodorant brands are facing a tough time. Some fundamental body or the other always manages to find certain imagery of the ad to be visually provocative or obscene in some way. And brand owners are at a dilemma on how to sell such products.

After facing difficulty with such suggestive advertising on television, advertisers now seem to be using the medium of radio to grab the attention of listeners. Recently one of the not so regular ads that caught our attention and hopefully the listeners’ too goes as follows: Two women are having a conversation as if discussing a love encounter. One asks the other: So have you told your husband? The other woman replies, “Are you mad?” The first one asks again, “So you had fun?” To this the second one says, “Obviously.” The last question she asks is “Was it big?” and then after all the buildup we come to know that the climax is a big shopping sale going on in the city.

If this was a TV ad it surely would have drawn flak. But it seems very easy to get away with such suggestive ads on radio.

“Radio is a less-monitored medium and it’s easy to get away with calculated obscenity. Unlike the West, we still haven’t accepted it as a full-fledged entertainment medium. Therefore being a less popular medium in comparison to TV, it’s sometimes easy to fool around,” says Vistasp Hodiwala, senior creative director, JWT.

It’s actually hard to come across any ad that has been banned on radio. Santosh Padhi, former executive creative director, Leo Burnett, says, “People have fickle attention spans when they are listening to radio. Things heard are often forgotten as soon as the radio is switched off. So even if there was an obscene ad playing on air, it will not be remembered by many. I personally haven’t come across any ad that was banned on radio,” he says.

“For some reason, there are much less complaints on obscenity on radio than TV. But it doesn’t mean the medium is not being monitored,” says Alan Collaco, secretary-general, Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI).

Interestingly, he informs about a radio ad which has recently been up-held and may be banned for using unsuitable language. The jingle of this ad is as follows, ‘If the lady suffers from heavy periods, get rid of the troublesome uterus by contacting RG Hospital.’

Alan says, “The tone of the ad makes the woman sound like an object. How can anyone be so insensitive and call a genuine health problem a troublesome uterus? The matter is under scrutiny as of now.”

The Amul macho commercial which was banned on TV has now adapted itself to the radio medium. The TV ad showed a housewife who pouts and bites her lips while washing her man’s underwear. During this activity her body does a rhythmic motion with the background score, ‘Ye to bada toing hai’.

The radio ad with dialogues runs as follows: Zindagi main toing karte karte … (says a man in a tired voice). Jab dekho jaanwaron ki tarha toing toing (screams a woman). Agarwal ji, dhande main ab toing nahi raha (says another man). Ye jeevan ek toing hai (says a third man’s voice in a meditative mood). Hai mere saare toing pe paani phir gaya (says another woman). Underwear itna toing hai to think about the man (hot voice of a woman). Eventually a voice over says: Yu to zindagi main bahut saare toing hain. Par appki fantasies ke liye sirf Amul macho male innerwear. Ye to bada toing hai.
“Toing on radio will not mean anything to anybody when heard independently. But if you form a connection with the TV ad, it might get a bit evocative for some people. No one has raised a complaint against it so far but you never know the future,” says Alan.

a_ankit@dnaindia.net