How did the British
manufactures attempt to take over the Indian market with the help of advertisement
Answers
(i) When Manchester industrialists began selling cloth in India, they put labels on the cloth
bundles. The label served two purposes. One was to make the place of manufacture and
the name of the company familiar to the people. The second was that the label was also
a mark of quality. When the buyers saw “Made in Manchester” written in bold on the
label, they felt confident about buying the cloth.
(ii) Besides words and texts, they also carried images. Beautifully illustrated images of Indian
Gods and Goddesses appeared on these labels. For example, images of Kartika, Laxmi,
Saraswati were shown on imported cloth label.
(iii) Historic figures like those of Maharaja Ranjit Singh were used to create respect for the
product. The image, the labels, the historic figures were intended to make the manufacture
from a foreign land appear somewhat familiar to Indian people.
(iv) Manufacturers printed calendars to popularise their products calendars could be used ever
by people who could not read. Advertisement could be seen day after day, throughout the
year, when hung on the walls.