Remember last year, during the Cricket World Cup in the UK, MG Motors kept playing the ads of their SUV- the MG Hector? The ad showed Benedict Cumberbatch getting into his SUV and the SUV greeting him “Hello, Benedict!”. The ad also mentioned about how technology makes us more human. (The car greeting Benedict made the car more human, get it? I didn’t, until now.)

A British actor famous for playing the role of a British detective (Sherlock Holmes) driving a British brand (Morris Garage) in Britain and the ads playing during the Cricket World Cup in the UK. Even the car speaks in a British accent! So MG Hector (MG Motors) is British, correct?

Before we answer that, a slight detour.

Have you watched Talaash? In the movie, Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor are shown having several conversations. But Kareena never has a dialogue with any of the other characters in the movie. In several scenes, Kareena Kapoor is next to somebody and  talking …it is made to look like a dialogue but it is actually a monologue. The directors kept leading you to believe that there is something magical about her but she is “real”.

In Sixth Sense, Bruce Willis and the character played by the boy’s mother are shown sitting across each other in the living room having a conversation when the boy comes in. Were they actually having a conversation? No. They were just sitting across each other, like any two adults would do while having a conversation. But our minds jumped to the conclusion that they were having a conversation. There are several such scenes that mislead us.

So, coming to MG Hector, is it British?

No! It’s Chinese. China’s state owned auto company SAIC Motors owns MG Motors. But we were tricked into believing it is British just like in the movies.

Likewise, a lot of westerners believe that Royal Enfield is a British company.  I am guessing that fewer people may buy MG Hector if they knew it was Chinese or Royal Enfield if they knew it was Indian. Our mind is prefilled with perceptions about Chinese and Indian things and therefore it would be easier to sell something under a British brand than if it was Chinese or Indian.

Why does our mind get tricked?

To answer that we need to understand the human mind. It is good at recognizing patterns (British actor, British locale, British brand etc. etc.) but it is is lazy. Taking shortcuts and jumping to conclusions is far easier than finding facts and analyzing them. If so many things in the ad are British, MG Hector British hee hoga!

Let me finish on a lighter note. I told my son that MG Hector was dysfunctional and no matter who got into the car, it would always greet the person as “Hello Benedict”. And therefore they showed Benedict Cumberbatch in the ad. He didn’t fall for it. And I tell him, our unconnected car becomes a connected car with my mobile phone inside it. He didn’t buy that either.

Goodbye, Benedict!