Do Sri Lankans understand brand names in politics?

When we see advertisements run on national television aimed at recruiting youth for the security forces there is so much genuineness associated with such efforts. Some of those advertisements have not only earned much praise and awards, they have helped recruit some of the best individuals for the job. 

These are days when we also see advertising campaigns being run for the presidential candidates. Strangely though, we haven’t seen anything creative of late; both on television and on walls along the street. Sri Lankans however have a tendency to fall for ‘cheap’ advertisements. These advertisements promote cheap products and during elections they promote ‘cheap’ politicians. When this writer uses the word ‘cheap’ he suggests that the individuals being promoted are hollow inside. 

That’s the beauty of advertising. You can promote anything from substandard fish buns (malu paan) to presidential candidates. The person who ended the curse of the shawl (Saatakaya) turned out to be a hero wearing clay shoes. This politician who went on to become the president was promoted within no time and was made ready to sit on the hot seat; thanks to the brainwork of a monk. The same can be said about at least one president who sat on the hot chair much later and found the pressure too much before he threw in the towel prematurely.   

There’re many interesting stories about advertising campaigns carried out for politicians. The slogan in one campaign carried out for former President Ranasinghe Premadasa read “Who is he; what is he doing”. It brought him great success. The late Premadasa loved media attention and even granted innocent favours to media men who covered political rallies. There is one story where Premadasa noticed the late arrival of a journalist and a photographer in a faraway location in North Central Province during a rally. President Premadasa was about to windup his speech, but managed to make a summary of the speech and also a noticeable gesture on stage to help the scribe and the photographer to complete their tasks. Then the seasoned lawmaker had later walked up to the scribe and the cameraman and said, ‘I did you guys a favour’. The journalist and the cameraman might not have been able to return to their office in Colombo empty-handed if not for Premadasa. Such favours fall short of being bribes and only lawmakers who have the power to perceive can do that. 

Sri Lankans are learning pretty slowly how to brand people, products and services. As much as J.R.Jayewardene, Ranasinghe Premadasa and S.W.R.D Bandaranaike were brand names in politics, so was Mahinda Deshapriya who served as the Elections Commissioner. If not for Deshapriya, the 2015 presidential elections wouldn’t have been conducted smoothly. He said at a press conference held in a connection with the presidential elections in 2015 that the police had the permission to shoot troublemakers at polling booths right on the head. This is the best catchphrase associated with Deshapriya during his entire career as Elections Commissioner. Deshapriya is a brand name associated with the institute called the ‘Election Commission’. 

The logos of parties like the SLFP, UNP and even the JVP- which were brand names- have given way to newer more people friendly parties and alliances which have their own logos. The pohottuwa (flower bud) symbol and lotus were later used as symbols with great political ambition fuelling such moves. The flower bud symbol is fighting not to fade away, but the theatre named after the lotus flower is still used as popular venue for concerts. Hail the latter because all good things made to serve the community must have an extended life. But just a few kilo metres away from the Lotus Theatre in Colombo we see a towering Lotus Tower (now used as a communication hub) which reminds us of a fall of an empire or the end of family politics. 

Politicians are masters at creating brands and logos for their survival. We need to usher in an era where the man on the street happily wearing a cheap unbranded shirt starts suddenly demanding that he wants ‘branded stuff’.