Dear Amul, you should be ashamed, not Ishant Sharma

[CG]

Almost always, I love what Amul does with their topical ads. On the occasions that I dislike them, it is almost always I feel that the pun is much too forced. I cannot remember a time when I felt that the subject of the communication was unfairly targeted or that the comment was not fair. This time, unfortunately, I do. I think that this communication targeting Ishant Sharma is in very poor taste and grossly unfair to him. Ishant is not guilty of match-fixing. He is not guilty of corruption. He is not guilty of a crime. He is not involved in scandalous behaviour. All that has happened is that we have seen that Ishant Sharma cannot handle the slog overs well – and, on last occasion, his poor handling of his last over, without argument, cost India a match. There is no need whatsoever for him to be ashamed. The Amul ad The Amul ad By this warped logic, anyone who fails or does poorly at anything should be ashamed. A CEO whose company makes more losses (or less profits) than anticipated or projected by himself or herself should be ashamed. A child who is otherwise industrious and intelligent but has a bad case of examination nerves should be ashamed if he or she does badly. An aspirant for a job should be ashamed if he or she is nervous during an interview, and, as a result, fails to get the job. Closer to Ishant, Chetan Sharma should be ashamed when Javed Miandad hit him for the last-ball six at Sharjah, Gavaskar and Tendulkar should have been ashamed each time they failed in a match that India lost, Milkha Singh should be ashamed that he failed to win gold at the Olympics. Amul has, unfortunately, played to the gallery this time, looking at superficial outpourings of public sentiment and pandering to this seeming sentiment, much as news channels decide on their stands on issues of the day. Up to this piece of communication, I saw Amul as a responsible editor, curating the most important issue currently, and using their cutting humour and simple art and presenting the resultant creative as a commentary on society, as the best editorial cartoonists do. From an RK Laxman to an Oliphant or a KAL, we smile each time we see their cartoons primarily based on their acute insights and their ability to hold a mirror to the society we live in. This Amul communication looks malicious, unfair and, to people like me, patently non-humorous. The ad embarrasses Ishant in the context of his family, friends, colleagues and anyone who has seen the ad. As far as I am concerned, anyone who has had anything to do with this communication, whether at the advertising agency that created it or the management at Amul that cleared the communication should be ashamed of their work. This, to me, damages brand Amul. Amul has always been soft and friendly, making me smile during difficult times and helping me get more out of good times. On the occasions that they have taken pot-shots at people, the people have been the identifiable bad guys, not just an individual who had a bad day at the office. Amul is, through this piece of communication, upending the very spirit of sports. This communication suggests that winning is everything, that failure is something to be derided and mocked. The creators of this ad need to read a bit about how the greater world sees the issue. “Why do we say “it’s not the winning but the taking part that counts”? It’s a phrase echoed by the founder of the Olympics, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who said “The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.” Most people seem to agree that trying and failing is more admirable than not trying at all.” BBC says on ethics in sport. Do you get that, Amul?

http://www.firstpost.com/sports/dear-amul-you-should-be-ashamed-not-ishant-sharma-1188801.html

[G_B_]

this has the chapa of that filthy and upty rag FirstPost written all over it. I wonder if my guess is right.

[CG]

this has the chapa of that filthy and upty rag FirstPost written all over it. I wonder if my guess is right.

yup

[Vilander]

when you quote it quote it properly, where is the source mentioned ?. People would like to go to the source and diss them directly.

[G_B_]

I knew it. I stopped reading the first post a long time ago. Populist to the extreme seems to be the term to describe them. Indian media seems to now be degenerating into blogs. I read about such outlets. No print medium. Getting news from other sources. No investing in journalists to follow up stories. More like a series of comments and supposed insights on the days happenings.

[CG]

when you quote it quote it properly' date=' where is the source mentioned ?. People would like to go to the source and diss them directly.[/quote'] :haha: go diss them now

[Crookbond]

I knew it. I stopped reading the first post a long time ago. Populist to the extreme seems to be the term to describe them. Indian media seems to now be degenerating into blogs. I read about such outlets. No print medium. Getting news from other sources. No investing in journalists to follow up stories. More like a series of comments and supposed insights on the days happenings.

Touche! Yet, you will find the same people use it to back up their claims etc. Currently, after reading a story - I have to invest another 15-20 minutes to cross check the facts etc. There are some media outlets who do a good job like the "Open Magazine" but such websites are far and few in pile of garbage which people pay for.

[Sidhoni]

BS article.

[moniker]

Waste of bandwidth.

[G_B_]

speaking of Amul. They seem to poke fun in a light hearted way. There are plenty of media outlets. (i am sure First post must be ones leading the charge) who have said much worse about sharma. Fundamentally its not their core business. They are in the business of feeding the nation mostly dairy products. IE obviously they are not going to get deep into the pros and cons of Ishant sharma. You read it, you laugh a bit and you move on.

[Sidhoni]

speaking of Amul. They seem to poke fun in a light hearted way. There are plenty of media outlets. (i am sure First post must be ones leading the charge) who have said much worse about sharma. Fundamentally its not their core business. They are in the business of feeding the nation mostly dairy products. IE obviously they are not going to get deep into the pros and cons of Ishant sharma. You read it, you laugh a bit and you move on.

Yup, Faking News(which is now part of First Post) didn't stop mocking Ishant that day.

[G_B_]

its a case of have you cake and eat it too syndrome. Similar concept in the British media. Suppose an incident takes place. On one page the newspaper provides all the scoop and the dirt and a lot of crude headlines. In the opinions section the same paper some columnist (under the guise of well its my opinion and i dont agree with my colleagues on the issue) writes a column about how the media has gone overboard. The result plenty of pages filled about the same story and the paper appears to have claimed the moral high ground will providing the dirt on the issue or gutter reporting at the same time. First Post is owned by Network 18 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_18 I can assure you, the IBN network in which they have a big holding did not hold back on their critic of Ishant Sharma. It was much worse than Amul.

[nitinbwj]

:finger:Agarm kar besharam pissant.Kitne chakke chokke khayega.Amul is right you.....