Title Intentionally Left Bank: Is Muthalik Sleeping?

Posted by SMM on 23:08

Have you seen the ads for Ipill? Since I couldn't find the link on Youtube, I'l just layout the bare storyboard.

1st Advertisement

Scene 1 - A young girl hurriedly getting up from breakfast table where her parents are also shown eating, grabbing her bag and hurrying out.

Scene 2 - She gets into a cab where her friend is waiting to pick her up and is shown to be very upset and is crying.

Scene 3 - They make the rounds of various abortion clinics and show that the girl is too scared to enter it.

Scene 4 - Solution is Ipill -72. Take it within 72 hours of unprotected sex and your saved from the bother of an unwanted pregnancy.

2nd Advertisement

Scene 1 - Call at midnight and girl hurries into bathroom and shuts door while answering the call.

Scene 2 - She asks details of When? Where? Exact details of time.

Scene 3 - Solution is Ipill -72. Take it within 72 hours of unprotected sex and your saved from the bother of an unwanted pregnancy.

Now a similar pill of another company going by the very befitting name of 'Unwanted-72' at least has the sense to show two married couples in their advertisements.

Now correct me if I'v got this wrong, but it sounds to me like the Ipill-72 guys are basically saying "Go ahead and have all the unprotected sex you want ladies.Just pop in an Ipill-72 within 72 hours to protect yourself from an unwanted pregnancy."

Ummm...are they encouraging young UNMARRIED girls to give into the throes of passion and sleep around (as seen from their advertisement). How did this get past the moral police? Are Muthalik and guys sleeping (literally) while UNMARRIED WOMEN sleep around and corrupt Indian culture and Indian men?

PS: I'm not even going to get into the issue of AIDS and STDs and unprotected sex.

Rià says:

30 August 2009 at 12:01

I think the ad can be interpreted in various ways....my interpretation of the same is;
what they want to convey is that agreed that u hav made a mistake by having unprotected sex with ur partner, but u can still make amends by taking an i-pill, atleast u wont end up with an abortion! I-pill is definitely better than abortion.

Sleeping around is a personal choice and i dont think any company can advocate or stop that from happening.

SMM says:

30 August 2009 at 17:58

@ Ria

Yes I agree.Ipill 72 is defininitely a far better option than an abortion,especially for an unmarried woman considering our society and its tendency to ask all kinds of questions

However, I wrote this post in a partly sarcastic vein on the line that the ad shows an unammried woman running around abortion clinics and how this ad was not against "India morals and culture" as propogated by Mr. Muthalik, and how this ad had skipped him and his gang of goons? if drinking is an evil for an Indian woman, wouldn't sleeping around be an even bigger sin then?

However, on a serious note I still say that one pill will not solve all issues which can arise after a night of unprotected sex,pregnancy only being one of them.There are many impresionable young college kids who can and have got the idea that such a pill taken the night after will erase all their worries and has thus, become a regular habit for them.

M says:

30 August 2009 at 22:34

You Know S, at the rate at which unmarried girls are having pre-marital sex and unprotected sex at that in India, this was bound to happen; such ads were bound to be made!

"India's morals and culture" is fast becoming a big joke. Seriously.

D says:

1 September 2009 at 01:49

Weigh the option of having an ipill to using a contraceptive. While an ipill may be better than an abortion, the chances of this pill being misused are very high. In fact, there was a news report in the paper recently on how the iPill is being grossly overused by young girls indulging in unsafe sex time and again. Since it is an OTC drug, it's being consumed in abnormal frequency. Perhaps, there is something to object to here.

Monika says:

7 September 2009 at 01:07

u know I was reading up a article somewhere on the web which says that its been used as a easy way of birth control instead of emergency contraceptive that they are designed for...and hence its giving rise to the other risks like STD's

I guess every good thing that is made we will find ways to misuse it..

On the ads,though I agree with u that they should not be showing unmarried girls, the ads of unwanted look much cheaper thatn Ipill.

The first couple of ads Ipill did were very nice the family having breakfast and the couple exchanging glances and the honeymooning couple...

BTW it can really be a boon to prevent sudden accidents ;-)

PS: sorry for the long comment

9 September 2009 at 17:10

@ Miss M

True...I feel that this ad on some level is giving out the msg that unprotected sex is okay.Just pop in this pill within 72 hours & all your probelms will be solved.This pill may protect one from an uplanned pregnancy, but what about STDs?

I had written this post on a part serious note & partly sarcastic as well on the so-called guardians of Indian morality & culture

9 September 2009 at 17:13

@ D

You completely said what I wanted to say. Bulls' eye totally :)

9 September 2009 at 17:17

@ Monika

Firstly, please don't apologise for the long comment :)

The pills might be the answer for 'sudden emergencies', but as D said, for many young girls it is a regular habit to pop one tablet in the next morning, but at some level it is also encouraging them. Ya the Unwanted-72 ads are a little disconcerting, but at least they get thr right msg across instead of showing an unmarried gril and her friend frantically making the rounds of various abortion clinics

Anonymous says:

13 September 2009 at 15:10

Hey,

Notice your comment on my blog. Followed link and read your post on emergency contraception here!

Very well written. And I could not agree with you more. I also agree with M's comment where she says "India's morals and cultures" is becoming a joke now. So true.

I don't when will they wake up, rub their eyes and actually see the reality.

And thanks for blogrolling me. I'll blogroll you back :)

And btw, I am a lawyer too working in Delhi :) Nice to find a fellow lawyer in the blogosphere.

13 September 2009 at 20:23

@ rayparoma

Hey welcome to my blog and thanks for blogroling me :)

Ya I wonder too when these kids are going to see the small print - maybe when they realise the longterm effects on their health or when they realise that these pills don't really protect them from STDs.

And wow...your a lwyer too.Corporate or lit?