Commercials that mirror society and its idiosyncrasies are part of the prime time watch Stephen Leacock once famously defined advertising as the science of arresting the human intelligence long enough to get money from it. This Indian summer has been about two things —Baahubali 2 and IPL, two big dreams that turned bigger after execution. IPL, which has brought about a revolution in India as far as sporting leagues are concerned, revolves around turning cricket into family entertainment. When entertainment is here, could ads be far away? A look at what the advertisements look like at prime-time shows clear patterns. What has a selfie got to do with being yourself, you may ask. Everything, the ad-maker would probably say. Oppo, Vivo and Gionee – three smartphones, where Deepika, Ranveer and Alia are busy taking selfies could be case studies for this. Are the ads trying to say that in contemporary society, the primary attraction of a device that brings you all the knowledge in the world, is attractive selfies? Food for thought.

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