Anna Hazare.. the Man who wants all taxes to be paid on that Ferrari

The last time I heard about someone talking serious business about corruption was ‘Tata Tea’ echoing “Jaago Re”, and that campaign did get the company serious business. Accolades to the communication agency but we never moved from square one and the tea did not taste any better either.

And then one fine day appeared Anna Hazare. Here was an old man, leading the corruption struggle in the nation that ranks highest in youth population, unwilling to change his stand, staring in the eye of those who had given in to the system and questioning the creators of that system.

An ardent follower of Mahatma Gandhi, his ways too are non-violent but Gandhi was lucky (I think), ‘Freedom from Corruption’ seems more difficult to attain compared to ‘Freedom from Foreign Rule’. The reason being simple, WE WERE SIMPLE. The freedom struggle was a battle we fought united while corruption has its own set of followers that display affinity and kinship with their own ‘cause’. And hence we stand divided.

Divided between the interested and not interested, between believers and non-believers, between exploiters and exploited, between the most corrupt and least corrupt, between you and your conscience.

I am unable to rationalize Anna Hazare’s stand vis-à-vis the constitutionality of the same though I do recollect we do have the right to hold peaceful processions but then when were Indian laws in favor of the common man. The National Congress Party of India has accused him of serious corruption charges, that Anna’s fight for a corruption-free India is nothing but a political gimmick.

This isn’t the first time that the Padmabhushan Award winner is protesting against corruption. He apparently has dedicated himself to the cause and is also known for restructuring the village- Ralegan Sidhi from poverty to a model village in the state of Maharashtra. After serving in the military and escaping fatal accidents twice he began dwelling on the purpose and meaning of life. Dear Political Parties, using the word corrupt for him may be a bit too harsh.

When we say India is corrupt, it has less to do with the system but more to do with the mindset. We have accrued it and it is as Indian today as the Bharat Mata. Corrupt goes beyond money, right? Corrupt is lacking in integrity. My concern is that when it comes to integrity we all fall flat on our face. Remember the terms secular, equality, free speech, blah blah blah?

But that does not mean that we don’t make a start. That is precisely the reason why Anna Hazare matters. Inspite of allegations if people have turned up for his support, it is because they are sick and tired of being helpless. We do extend our support to the parties when we vote, we have hardly got any rewards out of it. Toh fir Anna Hazare ko bhi support karne mein kya jaata hai!

Tomorrow, he will begin his fast unto death, he is ready to go to jail, he has taken this fight to the corridors of power. If it is a gimmick, it will be forgotten like any other scam. If this old man fails, be thankful that he tried.

If he wins you may forget Kisan Baburao Hazare but you may not forget Anna.

DNA killed Shashi Kapoor…well almost!

Isn’t it interesting that the communication progression worldwide has never brought out so many stories of faux pas that it does today? What seems jarring though isn’t the rate of the miscommunication but the high-profile participants who fall for such indelible mistakes.

The cases of damaged brand reputations across the world continue to aggregate as a result of adopting social media with an unplanned strategy or underestimating the power of social media. An addition to the ‘honorary’ list is DNA, an Indian daily English newspaper.

Like other news mediums DNA too owns a Twitter handle that updates the latest news stories. Sadly, for its lack of journalistic standards it tweeted on 10^th January 2011 afternoon that Actor Shashi Kapoor is dead. This piece of news spread like fire in the ‘Twitterverse’ and while people were expressing their grief over the erstwhile superstar actor’s death, DNA sent an apology tweet which said, “Apologies. Shashi Kapoor is alive. Confirmed.”

Not to forget that the trending hashtag during the day was #chormedia! This incident gave the tweeples an opportunity to bombard DNA with abuses and poke fun at its nonchalant news reporting. In a few minutes the top tweet that followed was, “No One Killed Jessica but DNA Killed Shashi Kapoor!”

Herein lay DNA’s two mistakes.

First Mistake- it did not rely to the universal journalist code by failing to cross confirm the news of the demise with the hospital which led to the loss of credibility. DNA later clarified that the news came from a trusted source.

Learning: Hear it from the horse’s mouth! In this case the hospital or the Kapoor family.

Second Mistake- Underestimating Twitter. While on Facebook the sharing is limited to the ‘friends’ on Twitter anyone from the ‘Twitterverse’ can retweet a message irrespective of the followership. Twitter is the most preferred medium for brands due its combustible attribute and its real-time WoM dissemination capability. The demise of the actor was significant news and thus it took hardly a minute for it to be retweeted by hundreds on twitter. By the time the apology came, it was late and DNA could not bring the situation under control.

Learning- Know the strengths and weaknesses of your medium well before you start.

Brands that operate on social media live on the thin line between backfire and appreciation. Most brands which we see on social media exist to contest for followers, likes, etc. It won’t be wrong to say that a few brands also operate in an immature manner hinting that social media is seen as ‘Any Man’s Job’.

Yet there are brands like Dell, JetBlue, NakedPizza, etc that make social media proud by their innovative strategies of engagement with their audiences. Whether DNA has learnt from the incident I do not know, but I am as glad as everyone that Shashi Kapoor is alive!