Okay, so we do observe ‘Father’s Day’ but wonder why so many brands have woken up to the Day now. So we asked Dr Bhaskar Das the question and here’s his response in the June 21 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…

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Q. Just so many brands had special Father’s Day creatives. Does such advertising achieve anything at all? After all, who really wishes Happy Father’s Day here in India?

A. Any excuse for celebration is always welcome, specially these days when there is a collective grief due to loss of normalcy. It’s not easy to be a Father. So if children want to celebrate, let them. It is a brand dharma to be in sync with consumers’ dominant and topical sentiments. Here also there are economic implications as celebratory mood stimulates consumption. Life is not solely about ROI. It pays to be emotional and irrational sometimes. Incidentally, look at the social media. You would be surprised to note how many people wish their Father or remember their Father. It’s the sentiment that matters and not how many people actually wished. It’s a personal matter and crowd participation is not a precondition for measuring its success.