Breaking Records

Below is a SET Max e-mail that landed in my inbox on 28th March - days after our fiasco at the Cricket World Cup 2007.

Now that India is out of the tournament (was it ever in?) the channel still wants to give viewers a reason to be glued to TV. And the reason is - records. The point seems to be "So what if India's out. There is still great cricket being played, runs being scored, wickets being taken and records being broken!"

Great 'pitch'! In fact the question in the copy makes me discover some records that the mailer seems to have missed listing.

And ofcourse not! There were more records broken than are given in the ad:

* Advertisers backing out inspite of commitments. ("It’s a different ballgame now" FE, 25th March 2007)
* Brands holding back adverts with cricketers - which they spent millions on to make.
* Marketers re-visiting their dependance on cricket and its stars.
* Cricketers replaced by movie stars in ads during a Cricket World Cup.
* Cricketers being dropped more by advertisers than BCCI selectors.

As the copy reads..."This is just the beginning. With about a month of high quality cricket still remaining, many records, both on-field as well as for for television viewership will tumble."

Amen.