An unforgettably worded advertisement
MANY years ago, I was making preparations for the publication of a souvenir. I requested one of my friends to collect some advertisements for publishing in the souvenir.
One village panchayat member assured me to get an advertisement for Rs 200. Accordingly, he sent me an advertisement for a tailoring shop in a village. It was because the panchayat member is useful in many ways that the advertisement was given. Otherwise what publicity benefit could a tailoring shop in a remote village get by spending money on an advertisement?
I was surprised to read the extraordinary wording of the advertisement. Usually, the words are gone through minutely to eliminate any mistake. But in this case, I saw an unusually worded beautiful advertisement that would attract anyone. Any big advertising company would have hired the services of the person who coined this mesmerising one sentence. I am reproducing the advertisement here without venturing to explain more:
"Your dress enhances your beauty,
USHA TAILORS makes your dress extremely beautiful."
It is because of the catchy wordings of the advertisement that I still remember Usha Tailors even after 20 years, even though I have not seen that tailoring shop ever.
Many might have imitated the style or wording after seeing the advertisement in my souvenir. This is what happens generally.
There are many talented people in rural areas. But many of them do not get proper exposure and fail to get due recognition and chance.
(Translation of Dr Jacob Samson's Malayalam article "Ormayil oru parasya vachakam" by Eapen Chacko)
