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.
AdbiA., FaiziN., & ChatterjeeC. (2017). Analysing the lazy mother argument inspired by the Maggi controversy evidence from junk food intake in India. Economic and Political Weekly, 52(28), 49–56.
2.
AwasthiB., & MehtaM. (2020). Anti-branding: Positive and negative effects on consumer perception of Generation Y and Z with special reference to Maggi noodles in India. The IUP Journal of Brand Management, 17(3), 7–22.
3.
BaviskarA. (2018). Consumer citizenship: Instant noodles in India. Gastronomica, 18(2), 1–10. 10.1525/gfc.2018.18.2.1
4.
BhadraG. (2005). From an imperial product to a national drink: Culture of tea consumption in modern India. Centre for Studies in Social Sciences.
5.
BhutaA. (2017). The story of ‘Maggi’ in India: A case study in crisis management. ASBM Journal of Management, 10(2), 120–123.
6.
BiswasC. S. (2016). Spousal violence against working women in India. Journal of Family Violence, 32(1), 55–67. 10.1007/s10896-016-9889-9
7.
BiswasS. (2017). Why are millions of Indian women dropping out of work?https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-39945473
8.
ChapmanT., & MishraV. (2019). Rewriting the rules: Women and work in India (Special Report). Observer Research Foundation.
9.
ChaudhuriM. (2001). Gender and advertisements. Women’s Studies International Forum, 24(3–4), 373–385. 10.1016/s0277-5395(01)00174-1
10.
DeepaG. (2016). The politics of food and cuisine: Religion, power and gender in the making of food in Colonial Malabar (PhD). Sree Sankaracharya University.
11.
DhaneshG. S., & SrirameshK. (2018). Culture and crisis communication: Nestle India’s Maggi noodles case. Journal of International Management, 24(3), 204–214. 10.1016/j.intman.2017.12.004
12.
ErringtonF., FujikuraT., & GewertzD. (2012). Instant noodles as an antifriction device: Making the BOP with PPP in PNG. American Anthropologist, 114(1), 19-31. 10.1111/j.1548-1433.2011.01394.x
13.
GramsciA. (2011). Prison notebooks (CallariA. & ButtigiegJ. A., Trans. ButtigiegJ. A. Ed. Vol. 1). Columbia University Press.
14.
HilsonG., & Van BockstaelS. (2011). Diamond mining, rice farming and a ‘Maggi cube’: A viable survival strategy in rural Liberia?Journal of International Development, 23(8), 1042–1053. 10.1002/jid.1830
15.
JayakrishnanS. (2018). Rebuilding the trust: Maggi way. South Asian Journal of Business and Management Cases, 7(2), 120–130. 10.1177/2277977918774650
16.
KatareR., & AnuteN. (2021). Influence of advertisement strategies on the business performance of fmcg companies marketing instant noodles. Vidyabharati International Interdisciplinary Research Journal, 13(1), 140–146.
17.
KumarP. (1988). Television industry in India: Market structure, conduct, and performance. Deep and Deep Publications.
18.
MehtaR., & BharadwajA. (2021). Food advertising targeting children in India: Analysis and implications. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 59, 102428. 10.1016/j.jretconser.2020.102428
19.
MishraS. (2017). The importance of ‘consumer type’ in the attribution of crisis responsibility: The case of the Maggi noodles crisis in India. International Journal of Strategic Communication, 11(3), 224–243. 10.1080/1553118x.2017.1307843
20.
NicholsC. (2017). Millets, milk and Maggi: Contested processes of the nutrition transition in rural India. Agriculture and Human Values, 34(4), 871–885. 10.1007/s10460-017-9781-0
21.
OsellaC., & OsellaF. (2007). ‘I am Gulf’: The production of cosmopolitanism in Kozhikode, Kerala, India. In KresseK., & SimpsonE. (Eds.), Struggling with history: Islam and cosmopolitanism in the Western Indian Ocean (pp. 323–355). C Hurst & Co Publishers.
22.
OsellaC., & OsellaF. (2008). Food, memory, community: Kerala as both ‘Indian Ocean’ zone and as agricultural homeland. South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, 31(1), 170–198. 10.1080/00856400701877232
23.
PandeB., & ChakravartyC. (2003). Indians eat most Maggi noodles in the world. The Economic Times. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/indians-eat-most-maggi-noodles-in-the-world/articleshow/47007354.cms?from=mdr
24.
Press Trust of India. (2015). ‘Lazy’ mothers to blame for rise in Maggi sale: BJP MLA. The Indian Express. https://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/lazy-mothers-to-blame-for-rise-in-maggi-sale-bjp-mla/
25.
RitzerG. (2013). The McDonaldization of Society: 20th Anniversary Edition. SAGE Publications.
26.
SankarA. (2017). Creation of Indian–Chinese cuisine: Chinese food in an Indian city. Journal of Ethnic Foods, 4(4), 268-273. 10.1016/j.jef.2017.10.002
27.
ShahS., & SharmaN. (2019). A case study of Maggi—strategies and relaunch. In RakeshS., SharmaG., KapoorK., & GuptaS. K. (Eds.), Journey of brands: A marketing management case booklet (pp. 83–96). Bloomsbury.
28.
ShaikhJ., & ParikhJ. (2020). The Maggi noodles ban: Perceived quality, emotional trust and customer loyalty during and post controversy. Journal of Brand Management, 17(4), 7–40.
29.
SinghalA., & RogersE. M. (1989). Pro-social television for development in India. In RiceR. E. & AtkinsC. (Eds.), Public communication campaigns (pp. 331–350). SAGE Publications.
30.
SoniP., & HarnawaleC. (2015). Ethical responsibility of multinational companies: What went wrong with Maggi brand of Nestle India?Indian Journal of Commerce and Management Studies, 6(3), 73–76.
31.
Times News Network. (2017). Nestle India to reduce salt content in Maggi. The Times of India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/nestle-india-to-reduce-salt-content-in-maggi/articleshow/58920272.cms
