QRant: Congrats, We Have Managed to McAloo Tikkify Tinder!

The new Tinder ad shoots itself in the foot.

Everything that comes to India, if it’s mildly illicit, becomes mainstream and boring. It’s the McAloo tikkification phenomenon. (Photo: The Quint)

Tinder is pretty simple. You download an app, a bunch of people are on your phone screen and if you find them attractive you swipe right. If they like you too, voila, you’re connected. Tinder is supposed to help you hook-up and maybe get a date or two.

It’s shallow… dependent almost purely on the way a person looks. It’s not Sanskari and it’s not shaadi.com. Or so you thought. Welcome to Tinder India, practically brought to you by Alok Nath.

That’s right, Tinder has an ad just for India and it takes all the fun out of it. A young lady is dressing up in traditional garb to go to a theatre festival with a stranger she swiped right on.

Her mum invades her privacy, looks at her phone and she is all “beta kajal lagana mat bhoolna”. Ladies, stay cool! Is ad ke behakave mein mat aana. If you want to be tequila, be tequila. Do not become another assembly-line McAloo tikki. Yup. That’s what they are trying to turn you into.

Everything that comes to India, if it’s mildly illicit, becomes mainstream and boring. It’s the McAloo tikkification phenomenon. Take something fun and delicious like a beef burger and turn it into a vaishno version of itself. So instead of a quarter pounder with bacon and cheese, you get a bloody potato.

Shahrukh Khan started it with DDLJ. Instead of running away with the girl, away from her conservative patriarchal father, he cow-towed to his regressive villainy. When did the definition of cool become being conformist? Be a grown-up. Make some mistakes. Aur agar kajal nahi lagana hai to mat lagao.

Editor: Prashant Bharadwaj
Cameraperson: Sanjoy Deb