The treatment for this tourism advertisement is jerky, disjointed, weird and nonsensical. The ad may even cause those people who were thinking of Karnataka as a destination, to re-jig their travel plans

Anil Thakraney

Having spent a considerable period of time in Karnataka, I can easily say it's an interesting Indian state when it comes to tourism. Especially in terms of history, religion and culture. But sadly, Karnataka has always been a big zero when it comes to promoting itself. And even worse, has the poorest record of preserving and cherishing its historical landmarks.
 
It is with this reference point that I watched the new Karnataka Tourism advert. 'Discover New Worlds' is the theme, and that cliché immediately warned that I should look forward to some extremely trite stuff. The commercial features travel in the state by two young, happening 'dudes', which is what they call each other. By the way, one good example of creative laziness in the Indian ad world is that the moment they want to speak to Young India, they use the word 'dude'. Assuming that the job of 'connecting' with them is already done. It isn't, dood!



Anyways, the ad features hurried shots of the 'dudes' taking in (and goofing around) the predictable highlights of Karnataka. Hampi, elephants, temples, hills, rivers, you can easily complete the list. One thing they forgot to include, of course, is the huge traffic snarls of Bengaluru.
 
Here's my take: The treatment is jerky, disjointed, weird and nonsensical. Guess Karnataka Tourism wants the young backpackers to come there, and has therefore used this quirky approach. But here's the problem that happens with this so-called 'youthy' treatment: None of the beauty of Karnataka gets captured. They have made even the spectacular Hampi, a world heritage site, look unattractive. And beautiful locales are at the heart of all tourism. Even the most broke, the most debauched backpacker seeks some degree of beauty when he travels (even if that happens to be the topless blondes of Anjuna, Goa). Instead, with this amateurish approach, Karnataka comes across as a dirty, shabby state, that's best left by-passed. In an attempt to look different from Kerala's wonderful, mystifying, picturesque ad, the Karnataka Tourism buggers have dropped the axe on their own feet. Am sorry to say, even for those people who were thinking of Karnataka as a destination, this ad will make them re-jig their travel plans.
 
So, there you are. A tourism ad gone horribly wrong. As wrong as the BJP has been with its choice of the chief minister of that state. As for my own holiday plans: anywhere but Karnataka. Right now, even Japan sounds like a better idea.