Promoting Kerala Tourism or Kochi Tuskers Kerala?

For the benefit of those wondering what is being referred to here, all I can say is that the Kochi Commandos…

By Parvathy Gopalakrishnan

The 22-yard strip looks revamped. Oh yes, there’s a temple, trees, a traditional drummer, a Kathakali dancer, a beach, a boathouse and elephants. Ok, there might be more elements, but these are the ones that stand out. Amidst these show-stealing visuals, one might not notice the wickets peeping out, crying out loud for attention.

For the benefit of those wondering what is being referred to here, all I can say is that the Kochi Commandos… oops, sorry! … Kochi Tuskers Kerala have done it again. If they’ve garnered attention because of their absurd choice of names, they should be expecting the name-game snowballing into a huge avalanche, all thanks to their official website!

The homepage is in itself an epic failure. Apart from the gaudy visuals that overshadow the pitch, there are Facebook and Twitter flags fluttering around, and “book tickets” banners on the virtual Kochi Stadium. Shady – literally – spectators waving “fan club” flags, the outfield screaming out names of the sponsors, and their logo flying high somewhere in the sky; all this and more to be ROTFL your AO!

Let’s now conduct a post-mortem of the content. They talk about archaic stuff like “Vision and”, about the Coach, the Team and the Partners. Who wants to know all that, Dude? In the slimmest possibility of someone wanting to know, there is always Google!

Looks like the team owners are keen to partner with the Kerala Tourism board. There’s nothing cricket-related available on the website, except for a basic information of the Squad and Fixtures. Explore Kerala, weirdly, finds a place on the site. What’s more, the owners are actually elated that the team name attracted so many eyeballs. They’ve lost it, and they’ve made that fact official by coming up with this masterpiece!

And speaking of the name, what a huge impact it had! And from Kochi Commandos to Kochi Tuskers Kerala, there’s not been much improvisation! Seems like the franchisees are of the opinion that men with the leather and willow will bow down in front of the mighty Tuskers!

(Parvathy Gopalakrishnan is a journalist, who loves writing on cricket. A wordplay addict and a die-hard Rahul Dravid loyalist, she blogs about cricket on powerplaytheblog.blogspot.com/, whenever she can)

About the Author