 Awards for Jokes
Corporate Nepal has been waiting with much expectation for the third Imitation Awards-2008. The organizers have already invited entries from the companies for the awards to be presented in 20 different categories ranging from the best imitation product and brand to the best imitation advertisement and slogan. The deadline for the submission of the entries is set at 1st April 2008 and the winners will be declared amidst a gala ceremony on the night of May 1 (the World Laughter Day) or on the Cow Day (Gai Jatra).
Being organized by the publisher of an illustrated periodical and an advertisement agency, the Awards are a perfect prelude to the 2008 International Joke Festival. However, it could not be ascertained if they are going to organise it as a joint venture. The winners are to be selected by a panel of 1001 celebrities of the respective fields who are to follow the most uncontroversial method of tossing a coin 100 times so as to ensure that there will be no partiality in the selection even if the award goes to the same members of the panel.
The Ministry of Health says depression is currently the number four health burden in Nepal and by 2010 they predict it will be number two. Therefore, the psychologists say that these Awards are going to be a tribute to the people who suffer from depression. By 2010, the organisers aspire to convert Nepal’s existing pessimism to optimism through awarding the imitational excellence of the countrymen and women.
Earlier, during the days of active or constitutional monarchy, the national level Awards used to be the Gorkha Dakchhin Bahu and Utter Dhoka Bahu which were not recognized by the international community for the reason of the difficulty in understanding their literal meaning. Therefore, befitting the new Nepali enthusiasm for setting an example to the world, these new revolutionary awards are named in English, said the Chairperson of the Award organizing committee. The gender of the Chairperson could not be ascertained because he/she was speaking on condition of not being named. Explaining the reason for special emphasis on the imitation, he/she said, it is to encourage the Nepalis to learn how the Chinese have achieved so much success by sheer imitation. “The sad fact remains that we Nepalis are very poor in imitation. These Awards are going to bring about a significant improvement in this field,” he/she said.
The award is being presented also for the most unpopular IBC (Idiot Box Commercial) to drive home the message that such IBC can generate far higher brand recall than the most popular ones. Similarly, there will be one award for the noisiest jingle of the year. A specially fabricated electronic machine has been ordered already to import from the Yankee republic to measure the decibel level of the entries.
Though there are 20 different categories, the overall winner to be presented with the grand trophy will be selected only from the four companies that sponsor the event. Individuals or businesses can submit an entry not necessarily based on profit, leadership, team building, advertising, sales and marketing or customer service but based on how handsome or beautiful the person to receive the award is. Of course, he or she must be good humoured because the winner’s laughing photograph should come beautiful in the newspaper print.
“Entries need to demonstrate the way in which you have either planned or inadvertently affected business outcomes as a result of a humourous event or strategy. Entries can be submitted via cellphone, the easiest mode of communication. It is old-fashioned to fill the paper form or email. Either way there needs to be enough content of laughter to demonstrate your success!”, states the notification issued by organisers.
One notable major feature of the Awards, as noted by the Chairperson, is that it is not necessary for the panelists to be present in any meeting. Their permission to print their photos on the paper will be regarded as good as being present in the meeting. “This is because the sole motto of this whole exercise is to create humours in the society. Big photographs of panelists which will be printed in the newspaper ads during the run up for the awards. And that will be the remuneration for the panelists,” he/she said.
Application forms are available from www.businessaward @jokes.com
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