November 20, 2005

Siimcard of a smile

Two questions from a Brunch magazine (Sunday Hindustan Times today November 20) interview with the actor R Madhavan:
    ...
    In one line, how would you describe yourself?
    A vagabond.

    ...

    In one line, how would you describe yourself?
    Somebody who is considered to be fun.

Why only twice? Why wasn't the question asked a third time?

***

From "Love Actually..." columns in the Hindustan Times (October 21 and 22, names changed):
    Dear Parag Dwivedi: You're young, you're fun, my heart is as bright as the sun. Whenever I see you I remember how tasty was my chocolate bun. Please don't make any more tea, cause I hate going pee. Your best friend, Reshma (yellow bust).

    Hi Pammi: I love you my sweetheart. I am very angry with you and nowadays I am getting very bored at home. ... Lots of love, Rakesh.

    Hi Anil: Thanks for all your help. But please don't call me again ... I have got into trouble because of you. Your friend, Minal.

    Dear Dee: If loving you is wrong, then I don't want to be right... If you love me then give me reply by miss call. Yours I.

    Hi: The smile is like a simcard & life is like cellphone, whenever u insert the simcard of a smile, a beautiful day is activated. Keep Smiling. From Kartik.

Love in the 21st, didn't you know? Miss call and simcards, don't call me again and please please don't make any more tea!

Oops, that really was "yellow bus".

***

The rest, from the Times of India (Delhi, November 9):

    Couple "stiff" in pic: Immigration authorities in Canada have allegedly pooh-poohed an NRI's marriage, refusing to grant his wife citizenship because the pair look too "stiff" in some wedding pictures to be a real couple. ...

There's the problem, my man! It's the pair of you that looks stiff. Ain't supposed to be the pair, got that?

***

Some name changes from the classified section (names not changed) (well, they are, but they aren't, you know what I mean):

  • Rimple Girotra changes her name to Riimple R Girotra.

  • Ramesh Girotra changes his name to Rammesh R Girotra.

  • Birinder Singh Chahal changes his name to Bhai Biriindar Siingh.

Looks like a sudden outbreak of double-letter-iitis.

***

    Hutch set to go pink and blue from Orange: India's third largest mobile phone company, Hutch, is finally shedding its familiar black and orange corporate plumage for a spunkier pink and blue look. Designed by Ogilvy & Mather ... the new colours will reflect the cohesive face of the new Hutch. ... Colour experts said both pink and blue are new age colours ... Blue is said to be the colour of success and prosperity ... blue also depicts a connection with the masses.

    ... Pink represents strength and yet has a young and trendy feel.

I have some questions. One, how do you "design" colours, and if you do, is it something you can put on your resume? ("In 1997, I designed green for DTC bus tickets"). Two, how does a colour -- a colour! -- "depict a connection with the masses"? Three, why should pink represent strength "yet" be young and trendy? Meaning, why the "yet"?

And most important, four: how do you become a colour expert? I mean, I hereby pronounce that pink and blue are painful colours that represent chickens and fingernails, yet have a middle-aged and vaguely oily feel.

I shall now await being anointed, and then quoted widely, as a "colour expert."

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hilarious che!

Anonymous said...

numerology, colorology, all same to same ways of making money. but a pink and blue Orange?! what ever happened to branding and such?

Dilip D'Souza said...

Charu, actually the same news item about Hutch and the colours said that Hutch had leased (licensed?) the "Orange" name and logo etc from Orange in the UK for use in the Bombay market. I have no idea why they did this or what sense it makes, but you may have noticed that Hutch is Orange only in Bombay. Everywhere else in India they are Hutch.

So anyway, the lease is about to expire and either Hutch or Orange or both don't want to renew it, so presumably we won't have a pink and blue Orange.

Anonymous said...

neela, am always impresed with the way you cite from papers. I never remember :(
am reading 'emotional design' now - where the author drools over the shape of his tea pots and how that affects his tea drinking experience. well, not quite but somewhat.

yes, there is a lot of belief that visual factors matter. I studied semiotics myself. but when the twist and spin occurs, such as pink represents strength, I begin to lose patience.
Dilip, yes it is now hutch everywhere. they went thru a 'Orange or Hutch?' phase briefly. I think they anyway started off as hutchinson max blah blah.

Dilip D'Souza said...

Neela, what are "visual primes, operationalized as colours"? I'm lost.

As for consumers being influenced by the darndest things, that's so true.

Then again, I'm influenced by egrets. Not one major corporate has taken note of this yet and put egrets in their ads.

Gilles Tourette said...

Did you know, for its game console X360, Microsoft hired a whole bouquet of design firms , one of whose brief was exclusively to select a warm, friendly colour for it. Man, I want to get in on this racquet. Anyone know of an opening in these firms?

Shobana Jayaraman Srikumar said...

you've now got a Phd in colourology. Makes perfect sense.