MAM
‘Fair and Lovely’ gets 1st Duryodhan award in TV ad category
It’s not quite the Razzies that “celebrates” Hollywood’s worst but the Maharashtra State Commission for Women (MSCW) offered its own “roll of dishonour” at an award ceremony in Mumbai yesterday.
Hindustan Levers’ advertisement for its fairness cream ‘Fair and Lovely’ was adjudged the most gender-insensitive and bagged the distinction of being the first ever recipient of the Duryodhan Award in the television ad category. The Amitabh Bachchan starrer Aks and Govinda’s Amdani Atthani Kharcha Rupaiya bagged the Rakshasa and Duryodhana Awards, being the most violent and gender-insensitive films, respectively.
The winners were chosen by a jury comprising advocate Indira Jaisingh (chairperson), vice-chancellor of SNDT Women’s university Roopa Shah, filmmaker Kavita Chaudhary and Mumbai commissioner of police MN Singh.
Announcing the final awards, Jaisingh was quoted as saying “The Fair and Lovely” advertisement suffered from a colour complex (naturally one would think since it extols the virtues of a fairness cream). Jaisingh said such ads propagate the myth that a woman has to be beautiful in order to be successful or find a suitable match.
“If using fairness creams could help us in securing jobs, there would be a mad rush for these creams and unemployment in the country would soon be over,” she said.
The awards were part of the MSCW’s Foundation Day celebrations.
Amdani… reportedly “won” because it used crude humour to imply that women were meant to be kicked around. The film also preached chauvinism and implied that a man felt threatened by an independent woman.
MSCW instituted the awards to highlight the problems associated with the stereotyping of women in films, commodification of their bodies and glorification of violence and crime in the media.
There was a positive note to the proceedings though. A special jury award to the critically-acclaimed film Chandni Bar for its sensitive portrayal of the lives of bar dancers.
AD Agencies
Tribes and Omnicom Media win Gold for HSBC Living Hexagon at ET Awards
Kinetic OOH installation turns HSBC’s iconic logo into a living landmark
MUMBAI: Tribes Communication and Omnicom Media have secured a Gold win at the ET Design & Creativity Awards for their innovative out-of-home installation, The Living Hexagon, created for HSBC.
Awarded in the Most Creative Traditional OOH category, the project reimagines one of the world’s most recognisable banking symbols into a dynamic, ever-evolving structure. Designed for HSBC’s International Financial Services Centre presence, the installation was conceived to do more than simply grab attention. It aimed to seamlessly blend into the fast-growing ecosystem of GIFT City.
At the heart of the idea is HSBC’s iconic hexagon, typically associated with precision and consistency. Tribes transformed this static identity into a kinetic structure that responds to natural elements such as wind and light, creating a sense of continuous motion. The result is a visual experience that shifts throughout the day, echoing themes of adaptability and momentum.
Constructed using modular triangular units arranged along a precise geometric axis, the installation moves in synchrony, giving the illusion of a fluid, living form. While the structure evolves with its surroundings, it retains the unmistakable identity of the HSBC brand, striking a balance between innovation and familiarity.
Strategically placed at a key entry point into GIFT City, the installation functions as both a landmark and a statement. It reflects the pace and dynamism of global finance while embedding the brand into the city’s architectural narrative.
With this win, Tribes Communication and Omnicom Media underline the growing role of experiential and design-led thinking in traditional media, proving that even the most established brand assets can find new life when reimagined with creativity and context.
