BEST versus POPULAR

 

Sometimes we are hooked up with illusion and pleasant things around us and accordingly we set that in mind to be the best. Again and again when the same things are spoken then our brain tends to believe that the spoken things are correct. Eyes forms the gateway in perceiving the knowledge which passes the information to the brain and the brain analyses and when repeated campaigning regarding a worst material done, to be good then the person believes and certifies others also regarding it to be the best.

Good is one thing and pleasant is other. Pleasant is tonic for the eyes, which are transient and may or may not have any beneficial effect on the person and the society as a whole. But Good always stands firm in its objective till the end. So these two words – one pleasant and other good, let’s put these words to understand the commodities, materials to be - Popular Or Best.

     The Healthy food

As the eyes forms the gateway in collecting information and gathering knowledge, so definitely presentation plays an important role. And when we speak about presentation obviously advertising agencies are playing a great role in fulfilling their objectives. Their main concern is to find a market of their products and how far those products fulfil the criteria like human friendly comes in the second order. For selling the food materials, -yard stick of nutritional requirements, food components, unwanted chemicals used or not, seldom finds place in the priority list but their advertisements are heart touching, filled with emotions, blended with the old days Hindi songs that made them to capture the market easily and we Indians being very emotional easily carried away by their True Lies.

     The best drink

Some years earlier I conducted a survey taking some of my students. In the first survey they interviewed the people regarding the tooth paste they use and which one to be the best. To the great surprise, the survey gave horrifying results that those toothpaste which are advertised in the TV channels and given in the Newspaper are popular and popular are the best. And a few gave examples from economics that when demand increases then supply also needs to increase and the demand comes from popular and the best. But the big question is that, are all the popular commodities are best or all the best are popular. These two words are actually in extreme ends and only in very less cases both are same.

  

Let’s now come to the practical approach, that all the marketed tooth paste use Sodium lauryl Sulphate (SLS) in their products for foam and cleansing. But now, what is that Sodium lauryl Sulphate (SLS)?. Sodium lauryl Sulphate (SLS) is a poison. In western countries, those commodities which contain SLS(may be toothpaste) a warning is printed in the outer side of the packet regarding its worst effect, injurious to health and dangerous for children but these products of MNC which are not grounded in their own country are  getting their market in India, but how? And again presence of more than 100 ppm fluoride in toothpaste is detrimental to our heath. Different toothpaste brands which are doing business in India have those chemicals. So these toothpastes may be popular through advertisements but are not Best. Because when we say best it needs to bring benefits to Mankind and the society.

     Traditional toothpaste of India

Another survey that I conducted with my students, in that they made survey based comparative studies by making two categories for its successful accomplishment. In one category they made survey of those children who consumed marketed packet powdered milk of different brands and in other category village children who consumed only cow’s milk. Different brands of powdered milk that are sold in the market promises to give higher IQ, make the children stronger and faster. But my students received an astonishing results and found that the cow’s milk (without adulteration) is far better. Same age groups in two categories when comparative analysis was done showed that village kids were far stronger, their height weight was proportionate than those kids who consumed branded powered milk from the market. Then what is the best here, of course all those market powdered branded milk are popular even though they may not fulfil the basic credentials which they promise in their advertisements.

      Traditional drinks of India

 

    Traditional food of India

Again newly born babies from 6 months to 1 year was surveyed and that too also in two categories. In one category babies who were given different food products that are found in the market was kept and in another category survey was made for those babies  who were given grinded or powdered materials from cereals. Result showed that those babes who were given food from powdered cereals products emerged as stronger and showed more activities and alertness than that of others. So the popular baby food items failed to deliver what was expected from them, but still they dominate the market because they are popular.   

We need to understand  the cunning motives that rest with those advertisements and little bit of self analysis over a commodities is very much essential for the healthy living, instead of giving full independence to the advertising agencies to govern our heart and mind.

 

 

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