India and Pakistan will play each other in the ICC World Cup on Valentine’s Day and it’s a big deal. The relationship between the two nations is one of historic significance, going back to the days of the British Indian Empire, and so emotions, and tensions, run high. Throw a national sport into the mix and things get really tense. And there you have the inspiration for these advertisements.
They are old, and have been online for a while, but I’ve never seen them, and they are—hands down—the most unsettling advertisements for a sporting event I have ever come across. “Get used to tension,” goes the tagline and, hell yes, do they ever mean it. The first one is textbook thriller fare. All manner of potential ignitors for the leaking gas from the stove keep repeating, and repeating, and you’re just waiting for the moment when it all goes up in smoke, but it never does.
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This second one is just flat-out bonkers. We see a kidnapped woman trying to escape her captor who has fallen asleep. She tries to move as quietly as she can, but there’s a train blaring in the distance, a wobbly glass bottle, and goddamned mouse all working against her.
So, yeah, India-Pakistan will be tense.
