The Indian radio is extremely intrinsic to our daily lives, whether it be travelling to work or college, stuck in the traffic or even when you don’t have net data for your music apps.

In the last few years, there has been a change in radio or more so in the radio jockey section, with the latter getting almost a celebrity like status.

Unlike before, now people have their favourite RJs, to whose shows they regularly tune in, interact with them on social media like Facebook and Twitter and have a good deal of trust and faith in them.

With the massive reach of radio and the status of radio jockeys reaching new heights, it becomes extremely important for the platform to be a little bit careful of the content they put out.

Sexual Innuendo Ads

Thanks to someone’s FB post calling out this bullshit ad, we happened to write this blog.

The ad on radio channel HIT 95 FM that runs almost every time the song section gets over, runs something like,

Badeeeeey ache lagte hainnnn……….

Kya ???

Badey toh Mujhe bhi ache lagte hai!!!!

lekin Chote ad breaks!!!

While we too like a good double meaning joke, it becomes extremely uncomfortable when you are travelling in a cab (with the infamous Uber/Ola drivers notorious for their image) or with family and it comes up.

Especially considering the current environment of crime and a general feeling of danger that women have, hearing such an ad when you are in an Uber with a strange man, perhaps going somewhere in the evening or at night can be quite disconcerting.

And it’s not just played a handful of times mixed in with other kinds of such ads, but telecast repeatedly after literally every segment.

Have to wonder, can’t we think of a slightly more appropriate or any other clever joke besides this?

Read More: All India Radio: The Voice Of Every Individual Indian

Crass RJs

An acquaintance commented on the crassness of RJ Ritesh and RJ Campy who host a show from 7 pm to 10 pm on HIT 95 FM again, and a particular segment: Doctor Doctor.

The show is basically mix of music and love where the RJs consult and sort of give sarcastic advice to young people on their love life.

However, one time it struck how rude and crass they were being when a girl came on their show explaining some problem. And then they mocked the girl in front of their listeners by commenting on her bad accent and said something like

‘iska to accent hi itna kharab hai,

ladka kahan se milega’.

Which is, to be honest, not funny or creative, but just plain mean where you are equating someone having a bad accent to them being unlikeable and unable to get a good partner.

Is that a mentality we want to promote?

Is the entire purpose of the show just to get people to share their love stories or problems and then mock them in front of hundreds of listeners?

Get some free content for uncreative jokes?

Is this the kind of regressive and condescending behaviour that we will now be seeing on radio?

And remember the sexual innuendo ad, apparently, they even have something similar in their intro teaser where a woman in the background in a very cheap, vulgar, orgasmic way goes:

‘aahhhh aahhhh doctor doctor’

and

‘come again’

That just sounds really cheap and sexualizing the woman again along with promoting the whole doctor-patient fantasy more, especially in front of unsuspecting audience.

Don’t you think the infamous cab drivers will start normalising this erotic tone, mock it and then expect the same too slowly, in their heads?

We have also heard that Red FM has a really sexist RJ in one of their afternoon shows.

The point is not to generalize all radio jockeys, but perhaps they need to take a better look at their content and what they are airing.

There is nothing wrong as such with using innuendos, and being completely open-minded liberals we too love a good joke no matter whom it is made on.

But considering the civil situation right now perhaps it’s time that more appropriate content is brought forward and jokes are given a second take beyond them being just double meaning in nature.

Keep them for your late night shows, no?

There needs to be an understanding that with now RJs gaining a certain prominence and status, thousands of people are listening to them and getting influenced by them.

So just like celebs even RJs now need to be careful of what they are saying and how they are terming things, especially sexualising every silly comment or jingle.

Image Credits: Google Images

Sources: Hit 95 FM, Red FM 93.5 (Delhi)

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