Commercials that use sexuality in traditionally asexual relationships are catching mindspace

Less than three years ago, a new bride, almost in the throes of an orgasm, washed her husband's briefs at a dhobi ghaat. The moral police went berserk, the ad was termed lewd, vulgar, against Indian culture.

Today, a cocky teenager flirts with his girlfriend's mother, a girl makes a pass at her supposed brother-in-law... and no one raises an eyebrow. Have we finally put the moral police to sleep?

Tie me not

Prahlad Kakar reasons: "We don't want to be tied down any more. The youth wants to do exactly what they're not supposed to. They want to find out on their own what works for them."

It's not altogether a new phenomenon though. More than two decades ago, Kakar made it okay for a girl to come on strongly to a guy when he got Aishwarya Rai to do the "Hi, I'm Sanjana" number for a Pepsi commercial. "Sanjana is classy. The kind of girl who looks at a guy knowing exactly the effect she has on him.

She expects him to jump up and get whatever she summons him to. And he does," he explains.

Kakar points out a recent American commercial for Hardee Hamburger featuring culinary expert Padma Lakshmi devouring a hamburger bursting with meat and sauce on a sidewalk. "She manages to look sexy without becoming cheap. Though at the end of the ad, you're not sure whether you want the hamburger or Miss Lakshmi," says Kakar, laughing out loud.

But what Kakar finds really offensive is the Wild Stone deodorant commercial in which a curly-haired girl pretends to trip so that her hunky brother-in-law who smells oh-so-irresistible can pick her up. "The idea itself sucks. It's not a legitimate relationship. Why would you want your brand to be associated with something like that?"

Television viewer Pranav Kanakia, 26, businessman, doesn't think so. "I take such ads as jokes. They're not offensive. They leave a lasting impression and isn't that what works for the brand?" Kakar counters, "There are certain things which go on behind closed doors but you don't show them off to the public. It's not done."