Does exaggerated advertising work?

I guess you've seen this Samsonite Cosmolite ad a few times now on national TV.

I do not doubt that this experiment is indeed 'true'.

As in, everything that happens in this video must actually be happening and hence the Samsonite Cosmolite bag is as tough as it is made out to be.

My question and the moot point of this blog post is:

- Isn't the example over exaggerated to sell a suitcase to me? I mean, when on earth was the last time your bag was caught between a metal slab and a passenger car in an accident?

- At worst, even if you've been involved in a head-on collision accident with another car or in a car that slammed into a concrete wall, then in all likelihood, your bags were......errrr.... at the back of the car, in the trunk. I guess the bags were ok. And I sure hope you were ok too!

In India, I fear that:

- At airports, once my bag slowly slips away from my sight at the check-in counter and travels down that mysterious conveyor belt, my bag will be, most probably, handled without care.

- It will be thrown, chucked, shoved, piled, tossed, smashed and compressed by men, machines and subject to weird situations.

- Newspaper stories of Amjad Ali Khan collecting a broken Sarod that he checked-in (despite telling baggage handlers to be careful with it) and similar horrific stories are constantly etched in my memory.

Shouldn't these real life situations be demonstrated using this magic bag rather than an example I can never relate to?

- Now remember, bags seem to be badly handled on departure and arrival as well.

There is a strong case to go across India and shoot and record real 'baggage' handling processes in smaller airports that may indeed destroy or damage your bag.

As an example, if I fly from Mumbai to Indore (and it becomes known that baggage handling is poor in both places), then why not show me how badly my bags are handled in both places and then sell me this Cosmolite thingy?

Travels by trains and buses in India is another angle that can be covered?

I believe:

- Ads representing the 'benefit' of the product they are selling should be 'realistic' and what I call 'relatable' (something I can relate to) - not 'unthinkable' and 'exaggerated'.

- Creating 'real-life' dramatic situations and explaining how that product can help me in that real situation works much better for consumers - who know that these things can happen to them and hence there is a way to prevent damage.

- 'Imported', a la 'foren' communication doesn't work for me. This ad seems to be a global one (on youtube it's dated 2011 and has an Australian origin), but in India, show me what is Indian. Show me the use of this bag in India.

e.g. - I am sure they don't have tractors that pull luggage carts across tarmacs in Germany. But in India they do!! So show me how Cosmolite would behave if an Indian tractor ran over it!!

Question - Would you buy products that show its 'exaggerated' use?

Alok blogs at http://therodinhoods.com/