Brands, Your Blip Is Showing

Here's how much-sponsored brands get a boot— Get public's sharp brow, and absolute, There’s a point here to moot, A point not in past put, Nor passed a fair test ere: Should ads talk in thin air? For a change, shoes sold bite seller's foot! ______________________________________ Happenings|20.06.2021| Poet’s note: This limerick follows what happened a few days back. Cristiano Ronaldo, a well-known footballer, removed a Coke bottle at a press conference and replaced it with one of water, and soon the company lost four billion dollars in its market capitalization. This does raise a few fundamental questions. India’s home brands, Amul and Fevicol, took a jibe each at these brands. Amul (the milkman of the nation) taunted: ‘Not bottling one’s feelings’; Fevicol (makers of various adhesives): ‘These bottles cannot be removed, nor will its valuation dip’. I loved it. Yes, markets do need some earthy humour in these hard times, a food for thought for them to mull.