I have loved watching the ads made for the Bajaj Pulsar. Over the years the creative department has released a number of great advertisements featuring the iconic Pulsar brand.
My favourite one has to be the Pulsar Mania ad that had a bunch of riders performing jaw dropping stunts. My least favourite would be the Pulsar Adventure Sport ad that featured the Tomatino festival. It has a really nice background music but then they wasted a lot of tomatoes.
Recently the Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) of the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), a self-regulatory voluntary organization of the Advertising Industry has banned as many as 100 advertisements. Among the list one belongs to the Bajaj Pulsar.
According to ASCI, the advertisement is misleading as it showcases a rider performing stunts on crowded roads, market place and streets with traffic. There are glimpses of the rider performing a wheelie in various places, one including right amongst a group of dancers.
The council claims, the sequences shown are in contradiction to the disclaimer made in the advertisement – “These stunts have been performed under controlled environment at an isolated location”. According the ASCI the visuals encourages dangerous practices such as performing stunts in normal traffic and in presence of bystanders.
The purpose of an ad is to influence the audience but just watching this one wouldn’t encourage someone to pop up a wheelie in a crowded place. Or would it? Afterall they do have disclaimers that explicitly warn people against imitating the stunts. Many other things ought to be banned if things worked that way.
While the Pulsar might have ignited the stunting scene in India. I feel they also promoted safety even while performing those daring acts. I remember a reality TV show on MTV India called Pulsar Stuntmania. Allan Amin, a famous action director trained the contestants to perform some insane stunts with safety given the utmost importancee
In its journey of 15 years, Bajaj Pulsar has earned a huge fan following amongst the bike enthusiasts
The creative department for Bajaj will be relooking at the sequences mentioned by the council and ensure complete compliance with the laid out guidelines. I hope by doing so they do not kill the soul of the ad.
Banned or not, I liked this ad too. It shows how the Pulsar has transformed along its 15 year old journey, begining with the 150 cc model and concluding with the fully-faired RS200. Watch it yourself and decided if it is misleading or no.
