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Simple funda, brilliantly executed, socially irresponsible. Its a Fair and Lovely ad. The premise of the ad is the same as all other Fair and Lovely ads.

In this ad, we have a pimple-laden-not-fair-complexioned wannabe bicycle racer (CWG, anybody?) who promises to buy her mom a bungalow when she wins a tournament. The quintessential brother quips with a reality check that cycling will never fetch her enough money and she should take to tennis (like Mrs. Mirza).

The next couple of seconds sees this girl use Fair and Lovely, and, lo behold, she wins the tournament. Now, since winning a cycle race is not going to fetch her any money, and since she has to buy the promised land, err... bungalow, we see her being offered the role of brand ambassador for some company (she can now buy whatever she wants. How cool!).

How predictable! But then again, how effective! It ruthlessly exploits the Indians' perception of white skin better, brown or black not. It leads the Indian woman to feel insecure and incomplete due to her skin complexion. It reinforces stereotypes that dictate you have to look a certain type in order to be successful (Sure, in this particular Fair and Lovely ad, this message can pass to be partially acceptable. After all, a brand ambassador has to be presentable, but presentable and 'fair' are not the same). Oh, and if you are a non-cricket sportsman (yes, there are sports other than cricket), the ad rubs your face in the fact that you cannot make money, since your sport is not cricket.

Ethically there are a dozen things wrong with the ad. There is only one thing right with the ad. It works. It works because people are gullible and suggestible. It works because people, in this case, not-fair-women feel insecure about the way they look. It works because Indians are obsessed about looking fair. It works because Indians have not got over the colonial hangover. So much so for national pride, but that's another rant for another day.

In a nutshell, this is an extremely effective ad, though ethically it is down in the bottom of the sewage drain. So long as it works, it is a job well done, guys.