Abstract
Imagine the Taj Mahal, regarded as one of the most beautiful monuments in the world and the symbol of love, running the risk of losing its status as one of the Seven Wonders of the World! With its undisputed place in global history books and the honour bestowed upon it by UNESCO in 1983 as the symbol of world heritage, the media and advertising companies seduced Indians and non-Indians worldwide into believing that the Taj’s age-old glory was in danger when the fierce New7Wonders (N7W) campaign took off some 18 months ago. The campaign was the brainchild of Bernard Webber, a Swiss businessman, and was actually waged by his for-profit corporation — New Open World Corporation (NOWC). The campaign stressed the need for recognizing the N7W by public opinion poll around the world. The first phase of global pooling brought bad news to Indians — the Taj was about to lose its old glory and was languishing far below with a rank of twenty-one. Alarmed by this sluggish performance, Indian print and electronic media went into a frenzy, and some marketing firms got into the act as well and urged Indians worldwide to vote. Advertising gimmicks like slick radio, TV, print and Internet campaigns involving hot air balloons, even a blind child saying, ‘I have heard it (i.e. the Taj) is beautiful’, implored Indians of all ages, particularly youths, into voting through telephones, Internet and cell phone SMS (or text messages), the product of India’s new telecom revolution.
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Bhatia, T.K. (2009). English in Asian Advertising and the Teaching of World Englishes. In: Murata, K., Jenkins, J. (eds) Global Englishes in Asian Contexts. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230239531_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230239531_10
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