Bachchan’s ad may have hurt our bankers but it must be accepted that our banks need a systematic overhaul
Given the virulent magnitude of the Punjab National Bank-Nirav Modi scam, a blowback of anger against and a trust deficit in public banks was but expected. So when a top ad maker used this as a storyboard for a jewellery brand, where the stentorian Amitach Bachchan is seen reminding a banker of his basic duties, the All-India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC) got miffed and threatened to sue the brand for “casting aspersion and hurting the sentiments of millions of personnel.” In the clip, Bachchan goes to a bank with his daughter to return the extra money credited to his pension account only to find the bank manager urging him to use the “largesse” as a refund would entail a long-winded process and for a small amount such as his, nobody would notice the mismatch. Bachchan then says quietly, “Honesty doesn’t mean when everyone is watching, rather it is about being honest when nobody is looking at you.”
As ambassador of the jewellery brand, Bachchan no doubt demonstrated a “solid gold” citizen moment on screen but was unaware that he had hit the banking staff where it hurt most and painted them black in a broad sweep given his iconic stature and recall value. AIBOC argued this created more distrust in the public banking system. At the same time, critics argued, could an icon, who was himself embroiled in the Panama Papers controversy and who had done the ad for commercial gain, take the moral high groundIJ Perhaps what everybody fails to realise is that a public service messaging of this nature is not intended to target anybody but build awareness, in this case among those committing themselves as keepers of public trust and whose stock value has eroded in recent times. We must agree that some parts of the ad film, where an ordinary citizen is made to run from counter to counter and engage in bitter conversations with staff manning them, is an experience we have all had at state-run banks. Everybody seems to have missed out on the larger purpose of ads as reflective of society. It is not about hurting egos of honest officers and executives but about highlighting the need for a systemic overhaul. It is also about ensuring that a corporate is kept accountable at all stages through multiple and coordinated audit mechanisms. Post-PNB, we came to know that public bank branches were not just audited by one team of assessors but concurrent ones. If something is missed by competing teams for years, it raises questions about integrity. There needs to be increased vigilance, sharp governance, rulebook compliance and financial stability, all of which in the end depend on the human element and attitude. Nobody is really questioning the well-intentioned employees but the purpose of an ad campaign is to put out a relevant, contextual message and fuel a discussion on societal correctives.