The field of advertisement is a job that requires the most strangely interesting kind of creative talents. The entire point is to snatch the attention of the audience and then keep it with the advertisement for a few seconds. Raise the bar over the curiosity, giving them a chance to anticipate and then turn the tables on them. This is what a good ad is about. And this is what the creative people, who designed the advertisement for Pro Kabaddi League Season Four, are really good at.

If you haven’t come across this ad as of now, you might want to stop reading this and go search for it. Search for it because it is a head turner. Because it takes something that has become absolutely normal for the present time television world and then gives it a twist like no other. Advertisements like these are what makes the ordeal a bit more exciting, maybe even fascinating.

The publicity snippets for Pro Kabaddi has always been a bit on the comical side of things. The ‘Le Panga’ commercials were innovative in their own touch, making the audience realize the spirit of the game through the ads. And they were working well, really well.

But the season 4 of Pro Kabaddi League has, as it appears, decided to attack the usual mumbo jumbo that rules the prime time of Indian television. The two most on-air genre of TV show on the drama channels at the present time, involve the family drama, or to be exact, the ‘saas-bahu’ face off and the snake drama.

Shows like Hamari AdhuriKahani and Nagin, which went off-air just a few days back, were quite famous in their slots and of course, included a female, shape-shifting snake as the lead. While this theme isn’t new to Indian cinema, the TV world has made it as obsolete and worn out as is possible. The new ad of Pro Kabaddi League strikes that frame of mind with a fresh idea and a funny tagline.

“Don’t Watch Fake. #Asli Panga Dekh.”

And it’s quite amusing too. Not just the dig at daily soaps but the other two parts of the same series which target South Indian movies and newsroom chaos. The creative minds behind this situation belong to the in-house team of Star Sports. Their strategy seems to be to establish Kabaddi League as an entertainment entity and not mere sports entity.

This one sport has made surprisingly healthy development in the past three seasons. The new season, as per reports, is being advertised with it centred on the intensity and action that the sport encompasses. This sport has gained really great audience and fan base in the few years that it has been around. For a traditional game to witness this kind of uproar in its fame and prominence is surely a big deal. And these commercials have played a big part in making this a big enough deal.

There have been a fair share of parodies on daily sitcoms like these ones. And there is no scarcity of campaigns that target these soaps for several reasons. However, PKL has very smartly established itself in the mind of the audiences with its quite intriguing commercial. And the whole point is, very clearly, to keep the attention cemented as long as the league continues. Nobody needs to remember the ad or the satire after the Pro Kabaddi League is over. So, to take one almost current piece of curiosity raising affair to fuel another, actually current piece of affair turns out, is a really good plan.