The Hindu Business Line : Golden Oldies

The grandmother of all Ad Clubs, the Advertising Club Bombay, turned 50 and the Hilton Towers rocked. The card said 7 p.m. but the only thing going till well after 8 p.m. were the cocktails. Not that anyone complained. With all the bonhomie being displayed one felt the ad types don't really meet each other often. With all the warm hugs being exchanged, they need to.

Almost everyone who was anyone was there so we won't get into the complete name game.

It was nice to see many Presidents clamber up onto the stage to blow out the candles on a huge cake shaped like the numerals 50. Pheroza Bilimoria, being the only woman President the Ad Club Bombay has ever had, did the honours. Would have helped to announce the names of the Presidents. I seriously doubt everyone on stage even knew each other. Yet, lady and gentlemen, you've earned your moment in the spotlight. The Club would not have been the same if it hadn't been for each of you.

The look

The Regal room was festooned with blow-ups of pictures taken along the rich and varied path the Ad Club Bombay has traversed. Very interesting. Here too, an eye for detail and some captions would have made it a nice walk down memory lane.

The Chief Guest

Mumbai's leading morning daily carried a front-page four-column article on the day of the Ad Club function about family problems in one of India's largest business houses where two brothers were having a tough time staying together. It attributed some of the trouble to their wives. The timing couldn't have been worse. Considering that the President of that newspaper was the one who ensured the presence of the Chief Guest at the function, it must have been pretty embarrassing.

Anyway, Mr Anil Ambani turned up with his charming wife and delivered a pretty thought-provoking speech. Ms Ambani sat prettily and evoked some interesting questions (was the jewel encrusted watch she had on the Rs 5-crore watch newspapers reported on?)

Mr Ambani wondered aloud why, at a stage when Indian industry in many sectors was taking its place at the top table all over the world, Indian advertising agencies were not among the top companies in the world. He lamented the fact that it was almost like the return of the East India Company, with all the big agencies being "foreign." Frankly, we were impressed. We also saw the top advertising professionals like Mike Khanna, Ranjan Kapoor, Colvyn Harris, Anil Kapoor, Ishan Raina and Ashok Kurien looking a little bemused at the turn of events. I am told there is not one purely Indian entity in the top 20 agencies in the country. One piece of unsolicited advice for Mr Ambani. Please buy out the minority stake DDB Needham controls in your advertising agency, Mudra. And then, Sir, you can say you really put your money where your articulate mouth was.

Sidelights

Some questions overheard! Why didn't the President of the Club sit in the front row with the VVIPs? The self-effacing Mr Parameswaran was spotted somewhere in the third row. Why wasn't there anyone present to seat the sponsors (Nirmal Group and Dainik Jagran) in a place of pride? Why were the real golden oldies such as Bobby Sista and Bal Mundkur (the Club's literature labels them as founder-members) absent at this function? And the most persistent, where are all the young people?

Also seen

The Club screened an interesting audiovisual with the 75-year-old Gerson Da Cunha as the anchor. Touch wood, he doesn't look a year older that the Club. A special issue of the Club's magazine, Solus, was released. Get it if you can. Awards were given to FCB Ulka and O&M who won the contest to create "advertising for advertising." Congratulations. Good work.

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