Not So Fair, Not So Lovely

Photo: TheSugarCubes.Net

Links to this Fair and Lovely commercial have been furiously circulating through the blogosphere (Nerve, Feministing, Poverty News Via Salon).

In synopsis:

“One TV commercial aired in India (often referred to as the Air Hostess advertisement) “showed a young, dark-skinned girl’s father lamenting he had no son to provide for him, as his daughter’s salary was not high enough – the suggestion being that she could not get a better job or get married because of her dark skin. The girl then uses the cream [Fair & Lovely], becomes fairer, and gets a better-paid job as an air hostess – and makes her father happy”.

Fair and Lovely is a product put out by Unilever—parent company to Dove (which we all know is responsible for the hugely successful “campaign for real beauty“). Oh irony of ironies.

More:
In critique of Fair and Lovely
Fair and Lovely India
Selling Race

Meera Masi For Curious Kids

Sonali Sahni Herrera, Sheetal Sahni Singhal (The Hindu)

“We all need a masi, the person you go to for fun,” says Sonali Herrera. “Someone who can spin tales for you and take you on adventures.” Herrera and her sister Sheetal Singhal founded Meera Masi, a publisher offering children stories on Indian language and culture. (“Sharing heritage with next generation, Immigrants from India write, market kids’ books in Hindi“)

While Singhal had the opportunity to attend boarding school in India and reads Hindi script, Herrera came to the U.S. at age four and does not read the script. Both can use Meera Masi books to read stories aloud to their children because the books include Hindi script, English transliteration of the Hindi script and an audio recording of the text to ensure correct pronunciation.

Watch the interview with the sisters on ABC’s View From The Bay, including “Itsy Bitsy Spider” in Hindi (“Chhote Mote Makade”) from their Khushē Manäo series. Meera Masi also offers a DVD featuring Laddoo the Elephant introducing children ages 6 to 30 months to Hindi, Tamil or Telugu.

Tandoori Sizzlers? OK.

Doritos Tandoori Sizzlers have made it to British and Canadian grocery stores apparently—and the commercials promoting them are now everywhere:

More YouTube Clips:
Doritos “Bold”
Doritos “Exotic”

I Want My MTV

Pink Slip-Time for MTV Desi? (MTVDesi.Com)

Rumor has it MTV World (home to MTV Desi, MTV Chi, and MTVK) is the latest victim of the firing frenzy at Viacom.

If reports are to be believed, the plug is being pulled completely on the channels. The “Classics Department” at VH1 has also recently been on the chopping block. MTVu will, however, remain relatively intact.

Burger King To Have It Y(Our) Way

HinduOnNet.Com

American fast food world domination continues as Burger King looks to enter the Indian market.

A report out today suggests Ravi Jaipuria, (a franchisee for Pizza Hut and KFC) is in talks with the company about expanding.

If true, Burger King would join Domino’s, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut and Papa John’s (among others) in its fight for a slice of the desi market.

The “home of the Whopper” has taken its time with the move however, and is seen as a relative latecomer (KFC has been on Indian soil for over twelve years now).

The news will be disappointing to food activists and others concerned about the growing obesity problem in India. NPR’s All Things Considered recently took a look at the emerging issue of “urban, middle-class obesity, especially among children.” The segment is available online.

More:
Mickey Dee’s home in India and its vegan menu offerings

Dhoom Machaoo Dhoom!

Shah Loungin’ (Santosh Verma for The New York Times)

Ghanshyam P. Shah spends about eight hours a day camped out in his bedroom, watching TV (prayer services, financial news, whatevs, really). “I’ll become really agitated if I can’t watch,” Shah, 82, explains to Vikas Bajaj of the New York Times.

I understand completely.

Bajaj’s Sunday Times feature, “In India, the Golden Age of Television Is Now,” tells us the state of television there is amidst change. The rise of cable channel networks continues, and American networks work to bring classics like Sesame Street to an Indian audience (Globalization. Sigh).

Bajaj also introduces us to Dhoom Machaoo Dhoom—a Disney show made for Indian teens. “It is about four teenage girls, one of them from New York, who want to start a band so they can represent their school in a talent contest. They face a number of challenges, including an arrogant classmate who is determined to derail their plans.”

Does Diddy know about this?

Be sure to check out the article’s accompanying video produced by Jigar Mehta (we blogged about Mehta a few weeks back—remember? Course you do), and let us know what you think.

More:
India’s Disney Channel
SRK’s New Gig As TV Host

Norah Is Number One. Again.

Norah Jones

Norah Jones’s latest album, Not Too Late, has topped Billboard sales-charts, grabbing the number one spot in its debut week. The LP, her third, has sold over 405,000 units so far–making Jones one of the few recording artists to have a number one record in the UK and US simultaneously.

Her other albums (Feels Like Home; Come Away With Me) were also transatlantic number ones, a record matched by only one other woman—Madonna (Source).

Nooyi On Top

PepsiCo Inc. said today that its Chief Executive Indra Krishnamurthy Nooyi will take on the additional title of Chairman of the Board this May. Nooyi has been at PepsiCo since 1994 and became CEO in October 2006. (Chicago Tribune) She will be the company’s fifth Chairman. “The four people before me have left phenomenal legacies and I have got to make sure that I can fit into their shoes.” Chennai-born Nooyi was named the most powerful woman in business last year by Fortune magazine and the fourth most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.

Associate Editor of Forbes, Chana Schoenberger says that Nooyi’s election is a good sign for women. “A lot of companies are now having a chairman and then a separate person as the CEO, and then a third person might run the board as the presiding director. So, the fact that Pepsi’s board wanted to give her both of these jobs means that they are very confident in her leadership.” (IBNLive.com)

More: “I have legacies to live up to: Nooyi” (CNN-IBN video)
PepsiCo news release

The Good Goods

Stationary Set Available at World-Shoppe.Com

It’s a global network that connects consumers with “economically disadvantaged artisans and farmers.”

World-Shoppe, an online market that sells everything from stationary to photo frames and bangles, makes sure its producers (mostly women) get paid a living wage.

The company works with non-profits like Bagdha Enterprise in Bangladesh, and India’s TARA projects in a business environment that is “non-exploitive” and “supportive.”

World Shoppe products have been featured in O and Lucky magazines. Check out the goods here.

Patel Bros. Gets Market Makeover

(Brian Jackson/Sun-Times)

Patel Brothers grocery is #17 on this year’s Saveur 100, an annual list of “favorite restaurants, food, drink, people, places and things” compiled by the food and travel magazine’s editors.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the Patel Brothers flagship store, opened in 1974 on Devon Avenue, is getting a face-lift. What started out as a single family-owned grocery store has expanded into a food empire with 34 Patel Brothers stores in 18 states, and a brand that is carried in some Chicago locations of Whole Foods, Wild Oats and Jewel.

Shoppers will still be able to get those 20-lb bags of chickpea flour and the other traditional staples. Once the makeover is complete, they should also have access to the store’s new features, “a takeout area with prepared entrees and breads, a wider variety of frozen and ready-to-eat items and a pickle bar — much like the olive bar you’d find at Whole Foods.” A cooking demo counter will offer daily samples.

More:
Patel Brothers Grocery, 1984