Thursday, January 25, 2007

Which bank does Lara like?

As I have confessed in the past, I have always been fascinated by these SMS contests on FM Radio. The one I heard today, sponsored by ING Vysya Bank, asked readers to SMS their answer to the question, “Which bank does Brian Lara like the most?” Options were a) Piggy Bank b) River bank and c) ING Vysya Bank.

Now, on the face of it, this looks like a ‘no-brainer’ or rather a ‘yes, Brianer”. But, life has taught me that these advertisers, unlike Humpty Dumpty, don’t choose to mean exactly what they say. There’s always something more, or something else. One has to look beyond the obvious.

As the sponsors have promised an opportunity to meet up with Brian Lara in person, I am naturally keen on getting the answer right. So, I decided to dig and probe further.

A quick Google search on Lara shows that he was born in Trinidad. While there are quite a few rivers there, starting with Arima river and ending alphabetically with Yarra river, and many of these boast of excellent banks on either side, I can’t imagine Lara wasting his time there. He was far too busy playing cricket from the time he learnt to put his gloves on and wouldn’t have ventured within 22 yards of any river bank. So, option A is ruled out.

Option C, ING Vysya Bank, needed closer scrutiny. According to their website, ING`s mission is to be a leading, global, client-focused, innovative and low-cost provider of financial services through the distribution channels of the client’s preference in markets where ING can create value. I know for a fact that Brian Lara’s mission in life is somewhat incompatible with this. In fact, there is nothing that Lara hates more than being a provider of financial services, regardless of the distribution channel. Lara and other product-endorsing cricketers of his ilk, passionately subscribe to the view that the market has to add value to them, not the other way round. So, Option C is completely out of the question.

I need to dig no further, as I have hit pay dirt here. By the principle of reduction ad absurdum , if options A and C are ruled out as false, option B has to be the explanation. So, piggy bank it is.

I have sent the sms to the FM channel, on the strength of which I hope to have dinner with Brian Lara tomorrow. Wish me luck.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Piggbank was option A, no?

Raj said...

yhac, you are right. I goofed up. No wonder I didn't win.