From vintage print ads to classic TV spots, a cultural body under the central government has envisioned creating a “repository of old advertisements” published in India, both for their archival and artistic value.
The Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) hosted an exhibition here from March 25-30 highlighting the art of Indian advertising as it evolved over the period of 1950-90.
Titled ‘Ad Art Exhibition: Four Decades of Indian Advertising’, it is being held at the city-based IGNCA, an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Culture.
The exhibits include images of several print ads drawn from private collections. From food items to ceiling fans and footwear to bicycles, these ads depict an era gone by.
“These advertisements were published in Indian magazines during 1950-90, and we approached people who had these old magazines and procured them. While initially we have culled out the ads which were printed in them and made scanned copies for the exhibition, now we also plan to preserve these magazines too in our archives,” a senior official of the IGNCA said.
These magazines of yesteryears include ‘Dharamyug’, ‘Madhuri’ and ‘Filmfare’.
Some of the rare prints ads include those of Lux soap brand, depicting its endorsement by Nimmi, a heroine of the black and white cinema era.
The advertisement, also in black and white, published in ‘Dharmayug’ in 1957 carries a portrait of the actress and the lines of endorsement, urging customer to use the product for “glowing skin”.
In later decades, other film stars of the era such as Waheeda Rehman, Nanda, Anita Guha and Shashikala also endorsed this famous soap brand.
The print ads depicting their endorsement of Lux soap, such as the one carried in Filmfare in 1960s, portraying Rehman, also show early use of colours in print advertising.
“We have seen Shashikala in movies across the decades largely in negative role and as a vamp or villainess, but the old ad shows a different side of her, when the brand celebrated her as a symbol of beauty. So, ads can tell a lot, beyond just its commercial value,” Media Centre’s Controller of IGNCA Anurag Punetha said.
The exhibition also highlights the artistic value of advertising as its evolution over the decades.
“Advertisements, crafted for the promotion of products, services and information, have gradually assumed the form of an art,” reads a panel displayed at the exhibition venue.
Some of the print ads on display are of brands famous also for their classic ads and punchlines, such as Khaitan and Bajaj fans, Cheery Blossom shoeshine, Bata shoes and Brooke Bond’s Taj Mahal tea with its tagline ‘Wah Taj!’.
“Now, we are planning to go a step further and create a repository at IGNCA, of such old advertisements, both for print and audiovisual formats.
We will reach out to ad agencies and companies too, so that copies of both print and audiovisual ads can be shared with us to house them in the planned archive, which later can also help in research work,” Punetha said.
At the exhibition, a digital screen displays some of the old video ads such of Dhara oil brand, Nirma soap, Bajaj scooter, among others. Through graphics, the look of a vintage television set has been created.
Punetha said the IGNCA has archives of different kinds, and this will be a first of a kind, in its repositories.
The cultural body also plans to reach out to old media houses and other institutions for sourcing copies of advertisements in both formats.
Asked how advertising has changed today vis-a-vis in earlier decades, the IGNCA official said today a celebrity endorses everything from a soap and hair oil to jewellery brands, and it seems the audience really doesn’t have a meaningful connect with the brand.
“Today, the brand of celebrity has gone up in advertising, while the celebrity of brand has gone down, I feel,” he rued.
The exhibition also showcases other rare advertisements of that period, such as ads of Fanta and Gold Spot cold drinks, of dental care products by Binaca, Kissan squash, Hero cycles, among others.
It portrays not just a collection of old advertisements, but also the transformations that took place in Indian society, culture and consumerism.
The exhibition provides an opportunity to witness bygone advertisements that deeply influenced India’s markets, emotions and identity, the official said.
