It is often said that art is a reflection of life. Lately, exams and parental pressure have become key ideas that have been adopted by major brands in their marketing communication. With students crumbling under pressure and depression becoming more and more common, it is time that parents understand that these realities are closer to home than we often realise.
We look at three of these advertisements and hope that parents can learn a few things from them:
Bournvita – ‘Tayyari Har Exam Ki’
The advertisement starts with a school principal addressing parents, on the eve of exams. The core idea it is trying to reinforce is that a report card is just numbers, and cannot measure a child’s true potential. As parents, we should focus more on ensuring that our children learn the right things than pushing them to score more marks in exams.
Mirinda – ‘#ReleaseThePressure’
The advertisement begins with some teenage students writing letters to their parents telling them about how the students feel when their parents force them to perform well in exams. The ad further shows parents reading these letters written by their kids and feeling guilty for not letting their children be free. Increasing pressure on kids to perform well in their exams has become a stark reality of every teenager’s growing up years. Maybe as parents, it is our responsibility to ‘release the pressure’ a bit.
Tata Tea Jaago Re – A Message For All Parents
The recently released ad, capitalising on the results season, shows a father and son on the way to find out the son’s exam results. The son is extremely tense and talks about how he may have performed in different subjects. He then turns around to realise that his father has stopped at an ice cream stand. The boy gets upset that his father stopped for an ice cream and complains about being late before pausing to hesitatingly ask, “But dad, what if I fail?” To this, his father calmly replies, “So? It’s ok,” and proceeds to order ice cream. Knowing that his father understands his worry immediately comforts him, and they both enjoy ice cream together.
Academic excellence does not determine a child’s capabilities or his/her success or failure in life. Parents need to understand that irrespective of how kids score in their exams, there are hundreds of opportunities waiting to be explored. We just need to find where their true interest, aptitude, and passion lies.