The word hermeneutics derives from the Greek God Hermes, who was the chief interpreter among the Gods. Interpretation of texts, whether they are written works or social texts like caste or gender, is natural to the human condition. Even before sophisticated texts presented themselves for interpretation, like the scriptures of the great religions for example, human beings were busy trying to interpret their world. To the cave men, thunder meant the gods were angry; to the first agriculturists, rain meant the Gods were appeased. Personally, I have been fascinated by advertisements as text, and have in the past written about them from a sociological point of view. The hermeneutics of ads presents a peculiar quandary. It is a question I have always been puzzled by, namely: Do ads reflect social aspirations and trends, or, contrarily, is society impacted by messages coded in advertisementsIJ
It was important to state the hypothesis clearly and with a slight academic slant at the outset, given the particular set of ads I propose to interpret here. The ads in question have solid social content. Their interpretation requires the interpreter to locate himself in relation to the message, and understand the contexts that surround them. Hence, the question of hermeneutics and the challenges involved. To get to the point, this piece is centred on three ads spots put out by Havells fans.
All three ads suggest an anticipated shift in social behaviour. They present delicate inflexion points in our social existence, and challenge conventional wisdom regarding our social practices. They attempt to address social anxieties and present solutions that are out-of-the-box, and yet not entirely incredible. The first of the three ads in their chronological order of appearance on TV presents a couple at the marriage registrar’s office. The registrar is about to record the names of the couple and assumes the woman will take the man’s surname. To her surprise, the man, a certain ‘Vikas Verma’, asserts that he will from that day be known as Vikas Pandit (the woman’s surname is Pandit). Clearly, this is an inter caste marriage, in which the woman is of a higher caste, which arrangement is contrary to scriptural injunction about the woman having to marry (in case of an inter caste marriage) a higher caste, since she inherits her husband’s caste. The injunction is violated only in part, since she keeps her caste name. Yet, in a fundamental way, the ad challenges societal assumptions, by inverting patriarchy and presenting instead, the type of matrilineality practised by the three dominant tribes of Meghalaya, for example.
The second ad in the series presents another inversion of categories. A group of women is seated around the dining table, attended to by the maid who apparently has cooked the meal. One of the women asks the maid to take a vacant seat at the table, even as another comments, “Come on join us, the food is delicious!” To be entirely honest, the above is the practice in my home, based on principles shared by my wife and I. Nevertheless, I have overheard friends observe how the situation presented is entirely idealistic. So while the first ad under discussion breaks new ground while being rooted in some of the aspects of tradition, the second is seen to be rather over the top. Do note that while the first ad concerns itself with tradition and custom, the second seeks to interrogate the idea of distinctions based on class.
The third ad in question presents perhaps the most feel good narrative of the three. A couple visits a home for the elderly where a kindly nun assures them of the best care for their parents. The young couple turns the tables on the nun by asking her to send home with them a set of parents from the home! The three ads push the boundaries of our social conscience, urging us to imagine a more just and caring and equal society. None of these texts is real in the widely accepted sense of what is real. Yet, they prod at the thin edge of the credible in a fast-changing world by imagining a society where all of this will indeed be true one day. These ads deserve credit for imagining an India we all hope will transpire some day, for suggesting that ‘hawaa badlegi’.