Deciphering Two-minute Magic: Men, Women and Children in Maggi Advertisements Aired in Indian Television

Abstract

This article discusses how men, women and children have been represented in Maggi television advertisements aired at different periods in India. The analysis attempts to interpret the similarities and differences in representation and symbolisation of different characters, elements and acts at different periods. As per the analysis, Maggi was hiding its industrial food characteristics behind some of the explicit representations rooted in Brahmanical patriarchy. Maggi started showing their noodles as food for happy and hungry children made by non-working upper-caste-class mothers. Men in Maggi advertisements never cooked. The advertisements included the symbolisation of ritualistic purification in many ways. These representations cover up Maggi’s industrial food characteristics such as reproduction of taste, simplicity to make and convenience. However, Maggi’s advertisements became realistic after India’s food regulator had banned Maggi in 2015. They started to show people from different classes and caste groups, men cook and Maggi being served on streets and started to claim itself as an industrial food through its advertisements.