Advertisements that will lead you to the Undertaker

Like the advertisement says, careless talk costs lives, dauntless-illegal ads may take you to your undertaker, believe it or not. Since we have set a vision of talking about different elements of business, here, I have a great chance to bring some of your attention to some freaking ads that are really very dangerous both to your health and mind. Wherever we go, whatever we are dealing in throughout the days, weeks, months ads will always be coming in our ways. But not everyone is meant for your betterment. Amid hundreds of thousands of ads there float a large number of ads those are intended to take you to the grave. I know throughout February we will have a good number of posts on advertising; advertising being an interest of almost all of us. Everyday before I look for a national or an international news, I roll my eyes on every page of The Daily Star to look if there is any new ad! I believe amidst you, there’ll be some ad freaks like me.

But my post relates to those advertisements of which most of you are unaware, particularly if you do no run through the busiest places around Dhaka city. Or may be you don’t go through the ad pages of some Bangla dailies. I don’t want to lose the chance to inform you about these punk ads. You may never be affected by these ads anyway, but some of your mates may fall vulnerable to these ads, and any thing can happen, you never know.

Let me start with the deadliest advertisement you’d ever confront while you’re plying on the roads of Dhaka. The tiny-rectangular piece of papers (most of us throw them away without seeing what’s actually written on them) are one of the most floating ad papers one is very likely to get from an anonymous. Since I was to write something on advertising in February, I have not thrown mine which I got tossed by a unknown lady at Kataban, while I was returning home having finished my University classes. I was really amazed to read what was written on those papers. You would never believe me if I put this before you in writing, so I took the photos of those papers and posted them with the post. Look closely, they are certainly not meant for you, he and me, i.e. the Uni going, job attaining, or biz managing folks. These are rather meant for people of a bit lower class, of low income, less or not educated men & women we see on the roads everyday. But why am I writing about these? What’s my benefit out here? Who am I advocating for? These questions are quite evident from you, if you’re hopefully reading to this far. I have certain points to make. Before start shooting, let me ask you - have you watched any of the 3 parts of the Resident Evil? Or may be Will Smith’s I am legend? What did the Umbrella Corporation’s T-Virus, or the famous doctor’s cancer curing antivirus did to the world? I know they are complete fantasies, but dancing on the moon was a fantasy either, wasn’t it? If anything wrong goes with a lower-class people, any epidemic may gobble out Mr. Billoo of Micro, no doubt. Yeah, I am stretching things a bit far, I know. But surely these are worth taking into serious consideration. If we were aware beforehand, Bird-flu might not have damaged the poultry industry in this country plummeting a kg chicken’s price from over tk. 100 to only tk. 25! So it’d never be wise to take things simply, if any evil gets leaked who know what would happen? These moron advertisers are yet to taken into the consideration of the legal frames. How could the government do so if they keep busy ailing and hailing the big fishes! So, it lies over our shoulders to come forward, and set a barrier so that these poor ads cannot harm any of us.

Now in the newspapers. Often, chiefly in the Bangla newspapers, you’d see numerous advertiser shouting at you to avail their guide to make your path to the land of dreams. But what actually happens out there? Let me give you an example. One of my father’s friends’ dulal (son) was keen to get higher studies from the UK, to be specific, London. So he went to a local agency, and asserted his desire. The agency getting his as an abul (fool) made false offer letter, took a considerable amount of money as visa processing fee, and sent him to the UK. But when he reached London, he found that the university he was going in virtually didn’t exist (Well, there are some kahinies [explanations] behind this. The university actually lost it’s license for not complying with the UK standards. This is what I was told from the dulal’s father). That poor boy is crawling somewhere in Nottingham now. Like this, a lot of vua (charlatan) people, agencies are roaming on the cities of the country. Should they be allowed to continue their operation anymore? What do you say?

My younger brother went to a coaching center after his HSC exams to get a chance to build up a career as a physician. He found them by an ad from a daily. After studying for over three months there, before the final admission test, those teachers wanted him to pay them taka 5,00,000 (yes, five hundred thousand) if he wanted to avail the leaked questions. We did not pay those fraud teachers with that money, and as a matter of fact my only brother could not fulfill his dream to get admitted into a public medical college. But he then did a great job getting admitted in the Armed Forces Medical College, Dhaka Cantonment. He showed those psyches that really there exist something which money can’t buy. Still those teaching (I’d rather say cheating) centers give ads in the media, pathetic!

The practice of cheating the DV buddies has been in action for long. Often common people are misled by the notorious advertisers while they are dreaming of NYC, Florida, or Nevada may be. But their dreams realize when they fall into the sea of Shahara!

The marriage-makers are also looting people by ads. Often people are seen on TV being dumped by the marriage-makers. A recent exclusive show on Bangla Vision has revealed a fraud lady being involved in illegal marriage-making! Everyone should be careful while dealing in such susceptible issues.

A mate of mine at the University was getting crazy to start a tuition. He went to a tuition provider at Azimpur. After going, he learned that he’d have to pay tk. 250 as membership fee which is obviously non-refundable and non-negotiable. He was supposed to get a tuition in a day or two. But till this date, he was not even contacted by that fraud advertiser.

The legacy of these advertisements does not end here. They can be a hot topic that can be discussed for days. But they won’t stop advertising like these if they are not controlled hard by the authorities.

Question is, do the high-ups have any wish to do it?