Saturday, July 12, 2008

An Advertisement in Urdu

This advertisement that shows a small boy wearing a skull cap, caught my eye, naturally.

It feels nice to see our language (or script) in places we don't expect. Doesn't this happens to most of us?

It is rare to find any corporate group advertisement in Urdu, anywhere. Even in cities where Urdu speakers comprise 25-50% of populace, hoardings in Urdu are rare.

One reason is that Urdu-speaking population in India is scattered, not concentrated in a particular state and the Urdu speakers (euphemism for Muslims) were never considered a 'big market'.

That's why the 'Kaise ho' written on the top, struck a chord. If creating impact is one of the aims of advertising, the surely such ad succeeds in reaching its target.