Topic: The Economic Times: Orientalist, elitist and politically incorrect: Why Air India mascot Maharaja is retiring

 

Topic: The Economic Times: Orientalist, elitist and politically incorrect: Why Air India mascot Maharaja is retiring

 

Category: Marketing

 

Faculty remarks:

With Air India coming back into the Tata fold, the company is attempting resurrection of the ailing airline through a huge re-branding exercise. Their strategy is to do away with the the perception of flying as an elitist activity. Retiring their widely-recognized mascot 'the Maharaja' is a step in that direction. 

 

 

 

Synopsis

Air India's Maharaja Mascot, one of India's most iconic and long-standing advertisements, faces retirement as the Tata Group takes over the airline. The Maharaja likeness will still be present in the airport lounges and premium classes as the airline makes way for change

After the Amul girl, Air India's Maharaja is perhaps the most popular and long-lived advertising icons of India. He carried on with his characteristic elan even when the airline struggled under mounting debt and numerous inefficiencies. Now it's time for him to step down. As the Tata Group embarks on a long-awaited revamp of the airline, the Maharaja will recede to the background, ET has reported. The airline is likely to continue using the Maharajah image for its airport lounges and premium classes but he will retire as the mascot.
That the Maharaja's time was up was apparent when Tata Sons roped in London-based brand and design consultancy firm Futurebrands last year to redraw Air India’s branding strategy. Among multiple strategies being considered was creating a new mascot for the airline since the Maharaja appeared outdated. Air India had already stopped using the Maharaja logo in its campaigns of new destination launches.

 

That the Maharaja's time was up was apparent when Tata Sons roped in London-based brand and design consultancy firm Futurebrands last year to redraw Air India’s branding strategy. Among multiple strategies being considered was creating a new mascot for the airline since the Maharaja appeared outdated. Air India had already stopped using the Maharaja logo in its campaigns of new destination launches.

How the Maharaja was born

the Maharaja was born in 1946, when Bobby Kooka, Air India's Commercial Director, and Umesh Rao, an artist with advertising agency J.Walter Thompson, together created the brand icon.

The Maharaja began merely as a rich Indian potentate, symbolizing graciousness and high living. And somewhere along the line his creators gave him a distinctive personality — his outsized moustache, the striped turban and his aquiline nose, the Air India website had explained. “He can be a lover boy in Paris, a sumo wrestler in Tokyo, a pavement artist, a Red Indian, a monk... he can effortlessly flirt with the beauties of the world. And most importantly, he can get away with it all. Simply because he is the Maharaja,” Kooka had said.

Michael Mascarenhas, the airline’s marketing frontman for three decades and its managing director in 2001, had told ET that “no other airline has ever had a mascot like this". The Maharaja was an inspired choice, he said. “It came by sheer chance and it was adapted brilliantly. When you wanted to promote skiing by promoting Switzerland as a destination, you showed the Maharaja skiing. When you wanted to promote Rome, you showed him with a priest, having a loaf of bread in his hand on a Lambretta,” he had said.

 

An orientalist relic

The Maharaja was a royal, signifying the orientalist idea of India which was seen as a land of royals and their decadent and opulent lifestyle. The democracy came and changed India but symbols such as the Maharaja continued to perpetuate the old Western stereotypes which we Indians ourselves embraced during the colonial rule.

The year 1971 was a watershed in the life of the Indian republic when then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi abolished the privy purses. This was the money paid by the government, a kind of compensation, to the ruling families of princely states which had agreed to merge with India after the independence. The Parliament amended the constiutution to abolish privy purses. The argument was that since all citizens were equal in a democratic India, the erstwhile royals deserved no special financial benefits.

Despite royals losing their entitlement and privilege, the Maharaja, a symbol of royalty, continued to represent Air India, then a government airline. In a democratic India, it looks incongrous for the flag carrier of the country to be represented by an obsolete symbol that harks back to the pre-democracy times when common citizens had fewer rights.

Today, with the rise of the aam aadmi in an India which has has lifted millions out of poverty and has seen its middle class swell, a royal  symbol apears out of sync, especially as the mascot of its flag carrier.

Air traval is no longer elite lifestyle

The Maharaja was the product of his times. In those days, air travel was associated with luxury. The ususal travellers were rich businesspersons, the VVIPs or famous people. Common people flew only in emergencies or on special occasions such as going abroad for studies or as economic migrants to other countries. Air travel was supposed to be a luxurious experinece and the Maharaja fit the bill. He truly represented what Air India promised to offer — luxury and privilege.

 

But now the nature of air travel has changed. The govenrment is building airports in small cities, from Jhrasuguda in Odisha to Bathinda in Punjab, promising to fly the common person. While launching the UDAAN scheme in 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said his dream was to see a person who wore a "hawai chappal" to fly on the "hawai jahaaz". Air travel is no longer an elite experience.

In fact, the democratisation of air travel has created a long-standing problem for the aviation industry where margins have thinned due to low fares. Most travellers no longer seek expensive and luxurious experience but value for money. Maharaja represented very well the service airlines offered in his times, not mere travel but luxury too. Imagine, how awkward the Maharaja would look hawking lowest-fare flights. Customer expectations have changed from the times when the Mahraja ruled the air. . Now flyers expect efficiency, more than luxury or style, from an airline.

Modi, right after becoming the prime minister in 2014, had told then aviation minister P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju that the Maharaja must be replaced by the aam admi as the mascot of Air India. In 2015, it actually happened. The Maharaja appeared as an aam aadmi, without his turban and wearing jeans and sneakers and a spiky hairstyle. His trademark moustache was also trimmed to size. You could call him a budget-class Maharaja.

 

The Maharaja's political problem

What was considered funny or naughty a few decades back could be construed as politically incorrect, if not offensive, today. In advertising campaigns that people loved in those times, the Maharaja appeared to be doing what no advertiser today would like him to do. In a poster promoting the Air India flight to Sydney, he is a coast guard at a beach ogling at bikini-clad women through his binoculors. In another such campaign, he sells "naughty" pictures in the backstreets of Paris. In yet another , he appears as a Playboy bunny.

Not that the Maharaja would continue with his ways in contemporary times. His naughtiness belonged to an age that has passed long back. He merely reflected the fun ideas of his times, and his Maharaja persona helped him get away with these capers. But his persona would seem unsuitable for today's politically correct age. You just can't imagine a Maharaja in drag, for instance.

 

 

 

Topic: The Economic Times: Orientalist, elitist and politically incorrect: Why Air India mascot Maharaja is retiring

 

Category: Marketing

 

Faculty remarks:

With Air India coming back into the Tata fold, the company is attempting resurrection of the ailing airline through a huge re-branding exercise. Their strategy is to do away with the the perception of flying as an elitist activity. Retiring their widely-recognized mascot 'the Maharaja' is a step in that direction. 

 

 

 

Synopsis

Air India's Maharaja Mascot, one of India's most iconic and long-standing advertisements, faces retirement as the Tata Group takes over the airline. The Maharaja likeness will still be present in the airport lounges and premium classes as the airline makes way for change

After the Amul girl, Air India's Maharaja is perhaps the most popular and long-lived advertising icons of India. He carried on with his characteristic elan even when the airline struggled under mounting debt and numerous inefficiencies. Now it's time for him to step down. As the Tata Group embarks on a long-awaited revamp of the airline, the Maharaja will recede to the background, ET has reported. The airline is likely to continue using the Maharajah image for its airport lounges and premium classes but he will retire as the mascot.
That the Maharaja's time was up was apparent when Tata Sons roped in London-based brand and design consultancy firm Futurebrands last year to redraw Air India’s branding strategy. Among multiple strategies being considered was creating a new mascot for the airline since the Maharaja appeared outdated. Air India had already stopped using the Maharaja logo in its campaigns of new destination launches.

 

That the Maharaja's time was up was apparent when Tata Sons roped in London-based brand and design consultancy firm Futurebrands last year to redraw Air India’s branding strategy. Among multiple strategies being considered was creating a new mascot for the airline since the Maharaja appeared outdated. Air India had already stopped using the Maharaja logo in its campaigns of new destination launches.

How the Maharaja was born

the Maharaja was born in 1946, when Bobby Kooka, Air India's Commercial Director, and Umesh Rao, an artist with advertising agency J.Walter Thompson, together created the brand icon.

The Maharaja began merely as a rich Indian potentate, symbolizing graciousness and high living. And somewhere along the line his creators gave him a distinctive personality — his outsized moustache, the striped turban and his aquiline nose, the Air India website had explained. “He can be a lover boy in Paris, a sumo wrestler in Tokyo, a pavement artist, a Red Indian, a monk... he can effortlessly flirt with the beauties of the world. And most importantly, he can get away with it all. Simply because he is the Maharaja,” Kooka had said.

Michael Mascarenhas, the airline’s marketing frontman for three decades and its managing director in 2001, had told ET that “no other airline has ever had a mascot like this". The Maharaja was an inspired choice, he said. “It came by sheer chance and it was adapted brilliantly. When you wanted to promote skiing by promoting Switzerland as a destination, you showed the Maharaja skiing. When you wanted to promote Rome, you showed him with a priest, having a loaf of bread in his hand on a Lambretta,” he had said.

 

An orientalist relic

The Maharaja was a royal, signifying the orientalist idea of India which was seen as a land of royals and their decadent and opulent lifestyle. The democracy came and changed India but symbols such as the Maharaja continued to perpetuate the old Western stereotypes which we Indians ourselves embraced during the colonial rule.

The year 1971 was a watershed in the life of the Indian republic when then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi abolished the privy purses. This was the money paid by the government, a kind of compensation, to the ruling families of princely states which had agreed to merge with India after the independence. The Parliament amended the constiutution to abolish privy purses. The argument was that since all citizens were equal in a democratic India, the erstwhile royals deserved no special financial benefits.

Despite royals losing their entitlement and privilege, the Maharaja, a symbol of royalty, continued to represent Air India, then a government airline. In a democratic India, it looks incongrous for the flag carrier of the country to be represented by an obsolete symbol that harks back to the pre-democracy times when common citizens had fewer rights.

Today, with the rise of the aam aadmi in an India which has has lifted millions out of poverty and has seen its middle class swell, a royal  symbol apears out of sync, especially as the mascot of its flag carrier.

Air traval is no longer elite lifestyle

The Maharaja was the product of his times. In those days, air travel was associated with luxury. The ususal travellers were rich businesspersons, the VVIPs or famous people. Common people flew only in emergencies or on special occasions such as going abroad for studies or as economic migrants to other countries. Air travel was supposed to be a luxurious experinece and the Maharaja fit the bill. He truly represented what Air India promised to offer — luxury and privilege.

 

But now the nature of air travel has changed. The govenrment is building airports in small cities, from Jhrasuguda in Odisha to Bathinda in Punjab, promising to fly the common person. While launching the UDAAN scheme in 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said his dream was to see a person who wore a "hawai chappal" to fly on the "hawai jahaaz". Air travel is no longer an elite experience.

In fact, the democratisation of air travel has created a long-standing problem for the aviation industry where margins have thinned due to low fares. Most travellers no longer seek expensive and luxurious experience but value for money. Maharaja represented very well the service airlines offered in his times, not mere travel but luxury too. Imagine, how awkward the Maharaja would look hawking lowest-fare flights. Customer expectations have changed from the times when the Mahraja ruled the air. . Now flyers expect efficiency, more than luxury or style, from an airline.

Modi, right after becoming the prime minister in 2014, had told then aviation minister P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju that the Maharaja must be replaced by the aam admi as the mascot of Air India. In 2015, it actually happened. The Maharaja appeared as an aam aadmi, without his turban and wearing jeans and sneakers and a spiky hairstyle. His trademark moustache was also trimmed to size. You could call him a budget-class Maharaja.

 

The Maharaja's political problem

What was considered funny or naughty a few decades back could be construed as politically incorrect, if not offensive, today. In advertising campaigns that people loved in those times, the Maharaja appeared to be doing what no advertiser today would like him to do. In a poster promoting the Air India flight to Sydney, he is a coast guard at a beach ogling at bikini-clad women through his binoculors. In another such campaign, he sells "naughty" pictures in the backstreets of Paris. In yet another , he appears as a Playboy bunny.

Not that the Maharaja would continue with his ways in contemporary times. His naughtiness belonged to an age that has passed long back. He merely reflected the fun ideas of his times, and his Maharaja persona helped him get away with these capers. But his persona would seem unsuitable for today's politically correct age. You just can't imagine a Maharaja in drag, for instance.