VirginMobile Spoofs Indian Premiere League (IPL) To Indian Hatke League (IHL)
Royal Chill Maadis Bangalore v Chennai Super Muthus is actually a very tempting name to make anyone check out how the spoof might have panned out. Of course, no particular introduction maybe needed on what the spoof is about though. The news that’s been passed around a few times now is Virgin Mobile’s caricature of the Indian Premier League with its Indian Hatke League. The website offers a wide range of interactive content and is primarily banking on a online fantasy cricket game for engagemen - which in fact is the IHL.
The Indian Hatke League
As expected the game is all about playing as any of the 8 participating teams in the IPL, of course with IHL’s own brand of hatke names. However, unlike other online games, IHL follows a tournament strcuture scheduled on the same lines as the IPL and a winner among the participants will be announced right at the end of the league. The prizes includes virgin mobile handsets, Hyundai i10 and Sony PSPs (maybe I should have written them in another order). India server reports that Virgin was in fact planning on sponsoring the Delhi Daredevils team in fact before pulling out of it because the venue shifted to South Africa.
Another interesting factor in my opinion is the level of experiences that happens on the site. There is a daily hatke news, there is a gaszone and many other interactive zones on the website besides the game. And the site is filled with cliche but yet interesting cricket characters. Take Ziddu for instance. The wallpapers, the screensavers (like the slap Sreesanth screensaver) all do add a lot of value to the site. The site has been developed by Culture Mafia and it defintiely bears a lot of Web Chutney trademarks. The product essentially is good.
