MAM
UK media regulator proposes content-based programme labelling
MUMBAI: Television networks in UK might consider rating their programmes according to the levels of sex and violence they contain. The proposal set out by Ofcom, the media regulator in the UK, has asked the broadcasters to mull over whether a “labelling system”, similar in principle to that used in cinemas, could be adopted for the small screen.
Ofcom is the regulator for the UK communications industries, with responsibilities across television, radio, telecommunications and wireless communications services.
Ofcom has pointed out that some broadcasters like Five and Sky have already labelled certain programmes according to their content.Ofcom intends to have consultations with the main broadcasters and other relevant organisations, such as internet service providers and the British Board of Film Classification, which runs the film rating system. Issues like, different episodes of programmes in the same series attracting different ratings; the difficulties in finding agreement about deciding on the regulators of the scheme, are expected to figure in the discussions.
Tim Suter, partner for content and standards at Ofcom, has been quoted in media reports as saying, “It made sense for us to see whether this is one of the sorts of places where we could add value. We will need to see whether it is desirable, and if it’s desirable, whether it’s feasible.”
AD Agencies
The smell that told Mumbaikars which station was next
Tata AIA turns Mumbai’s Parle-G memory into a sharp, city-wise outdoor play
MUMBAI: When a biscuit factory became Mumbai’s unofficial station announcement. Long before smartphone maps and automated announcements, commuters on Mumbai’s Western line relied on their noses. As trains rolled into Vile Parle, compartments filled with the warm, sweet smell of baking biscuits from the Parle-G factory. It was a cue to gather bags, wake dozing children and shuffle towards the door.
Now that memory has been pressed into service by Tata AIA Life Insurance as part of its 25-year anniversary outdoor campaign — a city-by-city salute to the lived moments that shape urban life.
One hoarding, mounted close to the old factory site, reads: “We have been protecting Mumbaikars since Vile Parle smelled of freshly made biscuits.” Spare. Local. Loaded.
The broader campaign, rolled out across major metros, leans hard into contextual storytelling. In Kolkata, it nods to trams. In Pune, to Magarpatta’s transformation. In Bengaluru, to a time before IT parks. In Chennai, to OMR before it led to tech corridors. Each line anchors the brand’s longevity to a shared civic memory.
The Mumbai execution is the most evocative. For decades, the Parle-G factory was more than a production unit. It was a sensory landmark. Residents nearby set their clocks by the factory horn. Office-goers marked their commute by the waft of glucose and flour. When the plant shut, the city lost more than jobs. It lost a rhythm.
By placing the hoarding beside the former factory, the insurer collapses distance between copy and context. The site does half the storytelling. The rest comes from commuters who remember opening steel tiffins packed with Parle-G, or jolting awake as the train slowed.
It is a neat piece of brand positioning. Rather than trumpet balance sheets or policy counts, Tata AIA borrows emotional equity from the city itself. Twenty-five years becomes less a milestone and more a presence — steady, local, embedded.
Outdoor advertising is often a blunt instrument. This one is anything but. It whispers. It remembers. And in doing so, it sells trust without sounding like it is selling at all.
The scent may have faded. The memory has not.
