Sania, Anju, Dhoni , Dravid, Sidhu, John Abraham,Priyanka Chopra, some Abhijeet Sawant, Vijay Mallya, Narayana Murthy ((??? Duh), .. whatever.. Watched some Music Channel advertising about its doling out Youth Icon Awards the other day.. They encourage you to vote for who you think is the best icon of current India.. Not a bad exercise, and if this really is an unbiased / non politicised/ bit-scientific poll then I would definitely like to see who emerges the winner.
Through most of my student life , there has only been one Indian icon the whole of India used to look forward to.. Sachin Tendulkar. We were used to watch with bated breath, each shot he played, each movement he made, each four he hit or even each ball he bowled. I have banged plastic bottles together with the junta screaming "Saaachin Saaachin " , me and my friends have danced when he proved his genius with the Two centuries versus the Aussies in Sharjah, we have tested each other's mettle on the minutest of details of his cricketing career, it was almost a shame to not know the critical stats, his averages, his records and his glorifying moments. From the century amongst the ruins in Perth in 1991-92 , to his bowling in the Hero cup to his captaincy to his overtaking records to more recently about his change of batting styles, to injuries, nothing more could instigate passion, joy, cheer, wonder, disappointment, anger, frustration and pride throughout the whole nation.
So have the scales really changed?
Maybe they have , I dont see the same euphoria generated by Sachin anymore. Ofcourse, long gone are the days , when the dismissal of Sachin meant we had to switch off the TV Sets . There are many more people to do the job, win it for India, with him, or even without him.. There are many more swashbucklers, more technically-correct batsmen too, more finishers of the game, or just more people to cheer on..
Nowadays, the charm of cricket is not the same, for the teenage generation , as it was maybe a decade before.. There are far more avenues for entertainment or otherwise, and cricket many a time does take a backseat.. Its therefore logical that we look forward to icons from various circles of life (apart from the conventional cricket and films spheres) , and this also signifies the growing health and power of our society.
But, has it really changed that much?
"Even off the field, the "Master Blaster" has come to symbolize the qualities all middle class Indians - and advertisers - love: shy, reserved, humble, a loving husband, a doting father. He is not only one of the most outstanding cricketers in the world today, he possesses qualities that distinguish all great champions - sincerity, determination and an indomitable drive to excel. Tendulkar's appeal cuts across all ages and transcends boundaries,"
You might find huge cheers for our girl Sania, but do you really view her as the role model?
Do conventional good looks, huge scientific achievements, 30 horses and a billions heavy bank account, or just 6 pack abs make you the role model for the nation?
Does the new found wit and sense of humor easily override a once slapped murder charge?
Or does being the odd honorary member or President of a jazzy Task Force (where you did nothing when you were earning the pounds) qualify?
According to spokespersons in Fiat
"In Sachin Tendulkar we found the perfect brand champion. Sachin is dynamic, full of life, young, energetic, dependable, a winner and a true role model. This fits our product profile and complements our endeavour to present the new face of Fiat India to our customers.’’
Its another thing to compare the Success of Palio's launch by Sachin and the Failure of the Versa Launched by Amitabh, but the analysis is far too complex.
Anyways, all this is fine. Each individual has his / her own perception at looking at things. Interests, aims, age, region, money and education of the individual himself are critical factors that make him/her decide his role model. Moreover, you can have multiple icons / role models , cant you?
The amusing factor to me however is that, inspite of these multiple luminaries, that the young ( and the not so young look forward to..) nowadays, the pecking order when it comes to Corporate/Market salebility and Brand quotient has remained the same all these years . The three biggies still rule the roost.. Amitabh, Shahrukh and Sachin.
I would guess that maybe the corporate think-tanks know the real benchmarks for a role model, themselves, they know what appeals to the masses really, who excites them, instills emotions, or who is the most convincing to the masses when it comes to your product.
Which is why it is Sachin and Sachin only , repeateadly, after all these 16-17 years, after back problems, tennis elbows and shoulder surgeries and accusations of not being able to play the same way he used to anymore, of his transformation from the demi-god to the error-prone and hence a normal human..
Maybe as they say, Sachin is not just a multi-brand ambassador , he is himself a brand.
Its amazing how much Sachin still earns off the field, It all started with 1992-3 Action Shoes ad with Kapil with the endorsement fee of Rs 100,000.
Others like Fiat, Britannia, Pepsi, Visa, MRF, Boost, Philips, Colgate, Adidas,TVS followed
TV Channels ESPN-STAR Sports (Rs 120 million) and Sahara cashed in. Lifestyles, Food , clothing, all industries have tried to reap in their harvests, in more ways then one, examples like a 60% stake in Tendulkar's are known to all.
The Multimillion Dollar Contracts??
1995 - 2000 - WorldTel, Mark Mascarenhas - a $7 M (Rs 30 Crore in 5 years)
2000 - 2005 - WorldTel, Mark Mascarenhas (Renewal) - $17 M (~Rs 100 Crore for 5 years)
2006 - 2009 - Publicis Groupe (World's 4th largest Advt Company) - $40m for a 3 year Contract -extensible to another 3 years.
All of these deals have invariably two basic things in common - of being the biggest ever endorsement deals of their times - and ...
and Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.
Friday, May 05, 2006
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8 comments:
Cricket sucks...can never vote for a crickter as a Youth Icon..
btw the channel is MTV...going ga-ga over the Youth Icon Awards....
ohh yeah who Abhijeet Sawant ????
:) Yup Mehak, Tendulkar might not be the current youth icon .. Thats pretty much understandable.. just thinking, how much money he still makes without performances, with injuries etc.
Maybe people still love him that much, inspite of so many alternatives now.. which is the reason why corporates still make a beeline for him :)
Sam: It has been Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar all these years. I loved the last summation paragraph. Brilliant Archie, brilliant!! [:)]
I, like you, have spent the 90s and the early half of this decade following Sachin. At this point, no other cricketer evinces that kind of interest from me. Overall, cricket has also been bled due to an overkill of ODIs. Sachin, at the end of the day, takes it a notch above ordinary and that's what he sets it apart.
All ye sachin fans, please take time to read this post
http://aiyeratthegatesofdawn.blogspot.com/2006/04/eternal-sunshine-of-cricketing-mind.html
That was well written, Archan! Even though I've never been a fan of cricket, Sachin's feats on and off the field have always interested me(one just couldn't help but know!).I remember looking up to the feats of Pete Sampras,Steffi Graf and other tennis greats when I was a teenager.
But I for one, would never ever consider a filmstar as a role model - be it the 'Big B' or the 'King Khan'.
-Kalpana
In this great often repeated encrowning saga, how come ppl fail to notice sachin's metamorphsis from a "great contributor to team" to a "records pursuer star batsman". He took six years to score his first century in ODIs though those years marked most of his most exciting ODI innings(he was the one to initiate fast scoring within first 15 overs) giving up his wicket every time for the sake of fast scoring when he used to be well past a half century. I think this stage lasted till 96-97 and his two innings in sharjah against aussies marked an exciting end to this stage. Later we were to see a sachin who would invariably slow down in his 90s and rejoice on each century as if it his first.
He epitomises the indian middle class ambition of being idealistic and selfless in the phase of establishing himself/herself and then enjoying the fruit relinquising ideals and selflessness. No wonder the huge middle class youth relates with him so well and he comes out as the "youth icon".
- pawan
Hi ! Check out my take on other kind of cons at shantanudutta.blogspot.com
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