There are no promoter cross-holdings.A new Netflix show about an Indian matchmaker catering to the high demands of potential brides and grooms, and their parents, has stoked an online debate about arranged marriages in the country. The promoters of HT Media Ltd, which publishes the Hindustan Times and Mint, and Jubilant FoodWorks are closely related. “Wedding spends have been growing every year so it makes sense for brands to be part of the occasion," said Desai.
Additionally, weddings as an occasion in India is a high point of consumption, so targeting the occasion and the individuals involved makes sense. “Plus parents are happy to be part of the celebration and pay for it, so why not?" said Santosh Desai, managing director and chief executive officer at brand consultancy Futurebrands. Culturally the belief and desire for marriages to be family-inclusive is still predominant. There is a certain formality about their interaction that gradually fades away as they discover more about each other through vignettes about the wife’s premarital life. The commercial, with the tagline Yeh Hai Rishton Ka Time (this is the time for relationships) shows a newly married couple on their honeymoon. He said: “Marriage is a key relationship that we love and honour, and it followed into the brand’s folklore of advertising", which centres around relationships. Harneet Singh Rajpal, vice-president (marketing) at Domino’s, owned by Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd, did not comment directly on why the pizza brand showed a couple in an arranged marriage scenario in its new commercial. “But that’s not to say that the advertisement is only for those seeking an arranged marriage."įor brands then to showcase arranged marriages is becoming relevant. “It resonates well with the Indian audience because that is the norm," said Vaishali Banerjee, country manager, India, Platinum Guild International. The commercial shows a newly married woman preparing to visit her parents and depicts the anxiety of separation between the young couple. The ad explores the idea of love post marriage in an arranged alliance. Take the case of the commercial by Platinum Guild International, which is the lobby group for platinum producers and plugs jewellery fashioned out of the metal. There is more pragmatism for the idea of arranged marriages," said Gourav Rakshit, chief operating officer of. People nowadays are more happy to be in control of the process.
The website has three million active members, aged between 21 and 35 years. Sixty-five per cent of the users are male. One cannot dispute this fact and as advertising is getting more real, it is only natural to pick the real insights around marriages than a fictitious Bollywood rebel love marriages," Sridhar said.Īt match-making website, registrations by people looking for spouses are increasing by 30-35% year-on- year although most of the profiles are posted by the would-be husband or wife rather than their parents. “Ninety per cent of Indians have arranged marriages.
Sridhar, national creative director at advertising agency Leo Burnett, agreed. They do not want to go against their parents."
Affairs may be fine, but any marriage must have the parents’ consent. “Gone are the days of Aamir Khan and Juhi Chawla running away to the hills to get married," Sinha said, referring to the 1988 Bollywood box-office hit Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak. Marital union usually takes place in the teeth of parental opposition.ĭheeraj Sinha, chief strategy officer (South and South-East Asia) at advertising agency Grey Worldwide, would have you believe that today’s youngsters are toeing the family line as far as arranged matches go. Popular media such as films, however, have traditionally plugged love and romance as the bedrock of marriage and the concept has been borrowed by other media such as advertising. To be sure, parents arranging the marriages of their progeny after completing rituals such as matching the horoscopes and deciding the wedding gifts to be exchanged is an age-old concept in Indian society. “The concept of modern arranged marriages is alive since individuals are keen to ensure that marriage is given the right kind of support (from parents and the rest of the immediate family)." “It is a classic-contemporary mindset approach the brand is taking which is not modern per se," said Mrinmoy Mukherjee, director of marketing and business development (retail) at Raymond Ltd.