This is very funny. The video embedded above is courtesy Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, which used it as marketing materials at last month’s Aero India 2009 trade fair. The Lede reports:
Saurabh Joshi of the Web site StratPost, which covers defense and strategic affairs in South Asia, saw the video “displayed on large screen televisions” at the Rafael stall at Aero India 2009 and asked a company representative what they were thinking. Assy Josephy told Mr. Joshi: “In Israel we have Jewish people from India, so we know about Bollywood and the song and dance numbers.” The video, he added, was intended “to help build familiarity between India and Israel and Rafael.”
While Mr. Joshi seemed impressed with what he called the “innovative video,” other reviews have not been so kind. On Wired’s Danger Room blog, Noah Shachtman called Rafael’s production “the most atrocious defense video of all time.” Stephen Trimble, on his DEW Line blog called it a “catastrophic collision of Bollywood and the arms industry, and dared his readers to watch the video “and, if you’re able, immediately erase the awful tune from your brain.”
As Mr. Shachtman points out, the song and dance number does seem to imply that “the Indian military is somehow like a helpless woman” with, as the lyrics suggest, a “need to feel safe and sheltered” by the arms maker, personified in the video by the male singer.
Thanks to Rachel for the link.
