VirginMobile going Unethical and Offenssive

Hi,
I am writing this post to bring something to your notice. I'm sure you must have seen the latest Virgin Mobile advertisement.
The advertisement is about two guys admitted in a hospital who are exploiting a major profession - 'Nursing'.
If you haven't seen the TV Commercial, its time for you to switch on your TV and you will see the advertisement.
Nursing profession is a respectful profession and nurses play a major role in saving our lives. When people are severely injured or sick and are brought to hospitals, the first person who takes care of these patients is a nurse. Since Florence Nightingale times, nursing profession got much respect and today, we all need to recognize the sacrifices nurses do to cure people.
As a responsible adult, I fully understand and I'm sure a lot of my country men/women also understand the 'need' of such professionals which are life-savers. The increasing trends of migration to commonwealth countries is a little scary. Soon there will be no nurses left to help sick people struggling with their lives because we will loose our precious nurses to commonwealth countries. Why? Because nurses get recognition in commonwealth countries and our government badly lacks on giving recognition.
The only reason, we don't care to hold them back, recognize them for what they do and motivate them to serve our nation. Instead, companies like Virgin Mobile exploits them. What are the youngsters learning out of watching such offending and immoral TV commercials? They will do exactly the same when they are hospitalized. If not the injured one, their friends will be lured to exploit nurses when they visit an injured friend at hospital.
There are thousand other ways to create good commercials which do not infringe someone's morale but Virgin Media took the cheapest and ethic-less way out to promote their product.
Is there a way to stop these people from exploiting a respectful profession?
Their commercial is an insult to not only nursing profession but to Indian Women over all. Its a real shame that companies at this level are exploiting women openly in the form of TV commercials.
Probably you can imagine a teenager (male) who has never been hospitalized, what goes across his mind about nursing professionals? And vice versa, what would go across a female teenager's mind - "That this profession is not good and as a nurse I would be exploited".
I don't belong to 'Writing & Editing" profession, I'm a computer engineer. I completed my studies in Australia and returned back to serve my country with the acquired skills. So, I can't really put my thoughts into words very well. However, I hope you understand my pain. I simply can't accept the way our women are treated, specially, on professional levels. Companies like Virgin Mobile are creating insecurity for nursing professionals and women 'at work'.
I'm not sure what you can do, but someone needs to step out and stop such TV commercials which exploit Indian women.
Thanks for reading.
I hope to see the Virgin Mobile advertisement pulled off the TV channels soon which displays 'women' as a piece of entertainment among our youth and some law should be created to ban such commercials, the offenders should be prosecuted.

Regards,
Indian Citizen.

Hello Kaushal,
I have moved this topic in Television dicussion section.

Hi Admin,
Thanks for moving the topic to appropriate section.

Here is the update to this topic:
After circulating my email among different NGOs, I got a warm welcome from Akshara - NGO.
They have forwarded email to different departments.

Dated: 19/09/2008

To,

The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC)
and The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI)
Cc: Censor Board of India, National Commission for Women

Dear Madam/Sir,

This is to bring to your notice our strong objection to the 40-sec Television Commercial promoting Virgin Mobile’s ‘YoYo’ Offer, telecast on various television channels since around 09/10/08 and also viewable on

http://www. virginmobile.in/contest/yoyo.html?gclid=CJCEopyn4pUCFQH4egod60ZKeg
(I have inserted a space after http://www. since I'm not yet allowed to post links. However, the link is necessary so that readers may see the advertisement and this gives a better insight of what this topic is all about).

At a time when the European Union is set to make sexiest television ads history, we find it puzzling that the India ’s chief regulatory bodies are seemingly unaware of or indifferent to this indecent, degrading and sexiest portrayal of women in a professional and caring industry. Given the rigorous conditions that nurses (both female and male) work under, it is exploitative and perverted for a service provider to normalize sexual harassment in the workplace. This ad may well encourage patients in similar medically intimate situations to view nurses and other ancillary staff in terms of their body parts rather than as professionals worthy of their respect and gratitude.

In particular, see

- the top-angle shot of the model’s low cleavage where the eye is drawn to the model’s breasts as the man waits ‘expectantly’ (time count 00:06); note the composition of the frame as the camera lovingly gives the viewer the enhanced curve of a breast in the foreground in close-up and the male patient’s expression in the background.
- Another, similarly composed top-angle shot is with the model’s right breast in sharp focus at time count 00:08 .
- Another, similarly composed, part close-up, cleavage shot at time count 00:12 .
- At time count 00:18 the camera then shifts its point of view to the patient only to draw our attention to the woman’s skimpily clad lower body. The mini-skirt, with a slit to boot, barely reaches the model’s upper-thigh and the camera now focuses on the model’s exposed legs. Note that the patient’s head, now in the foreground, is again blurred and out of focus.
- the ad ends with a (mincing) male nurse entering the second male patient’s room much to the second patient’s disappointment at not having this ‘sexy’ female nurse attend him too. ‘Humor’ in this instance is achieved by targeting the male nurse’s ‘effeminate’ behavior, again an extremely tasteless presentation.

This ad invites the (presumably) male viewer to partake, vicariously, in the patient’s lewd behavior and to derive sexual pleasure and ‘humor’ from the patient’s exploitation of a nurse’s duties, her caring functions and expected helpful nature. Portraying the sexuality of the nurse as a gimmick to sell their product is not only a highly irresponsible and juvenile act on the part of both the company (Virgin Mobile) and the ad agency (Bates 141, Mumbai), but also contrary to the guidelines of the Advertising Standards Council of India. It shows a distinct lack of creativity and great insensitivity on the part of the production house (Nirvana Films, Mumbai) and the ad agency if all they can possibly come up with to communicate an innovative tariff plan is an infantile and perverse take on what so many women have to endure routinely.

To be targeted for your sexuality and be presented in terms of sexual ‘availability’ can have a highly negative effect on the self-confidence of women in general, and of nurses in this case. In their search for eyeballs and consumer count, such film makers not only demean highly skilled, dedicated and qualified members of the medical fraternity, but also disregard the very real and vulnerable circumstances that working women face in our patriarchal society.

We would request that

a) the ad be withdrawn immediately, both from television and the Virgin website.

b) the makers (Virgin Mobile, Bates 141 & Nirvana Films) be penalized and reprimanded individually and immediately by both CBFC and ASCI.

c) both CBFC and ASCI inform the signatory organizations below of the steps being taken in the current case with an assurance of a tighter regulation of TVCs vis-à-vis the sexist portrayal of women.

Failing a satisfactory and timely response, we shall be forced to formally refer this ambivalence on the part of the regulatory bodies CBFC and the ASCI to the National Commission for Women.

Thanking you,
Akshara Team,
aksharacentre.org

Good Topic.

Well also i have not seen much ppl using virgin mobile.. infact the concept was not good i guess.. any idea abt virgin mobile guys?

The only thing I know about Virgin Mobile is that they are good at creating advertisements. They have created some really interesting and nice ads but with this advert, they have lost all the respect in my heart. Anyway, don't know why they named it 'Virgin Mobile' when I see, everything they do is non-virgin ;D

Oh by the way, was I glad to see the advert being pulled down from TVs, Media, Newspapers and Google Adwords ads. Yayyyy!

As for your question Sunidhi, I don't know what special is (Non)Virgin Mobile going to offer. I mean, Airtel and Vodafone are already offering good enough service. I did rather stick to my Airtel connection. We do find problems once in a while, but have to keep up the patience because all these networks are alike and lack in one or the other service.

Have fun guys!

Adarsh.

yeah.. very true kaushal... good tht ppl have removed the ads and all... lets see how its goes for them now..

great