Calcutta Boys’ School wraps up 9th Clifford Hicks International Debate on a high note

A five-day event, organised by the Calcutta Boys’ School Literary Society, the 9th Clifford Hicks International Debate Competition, concluded on Saturday as students from seven schools showcased their debating skills in the finals. The topic for the debate was “The house believes that the use of psychological and persuasive techniques in advertising is morally wrong and unacceptable”.

The competition, which was initiated in 2015 to honour former principal Clifford Hicks, was held in two categories: Category I for Classes XI and Xll, and Category ll for Classes lX and X. The preliminaries, conducted on Tuesday and Wednesday and semi-finals on Thursday saw more than 80 participating schools with over 300 participants from local, outstation, and international locations.

Seven schools advanced to the finals in Category I, and seven schools from Category ll qualified for the finals. Two participants from each of the seven schools demonstrated their wit and rhetorical skills on Saturday. They referred to Nike’s ‘Run Your Run’ campaign, the mass sales and production of cigarettes, Heineken’s positive campaign, derogatory fairness cream campaigns, irresponsible alcohol promotion under surrogate advertising, Cristiano Ronaldo’s Coca-Cola incident and the freedom of the press during the debate.

Antariksh Mondal from Calcutta Boys’ School supported the motion and highlighted how modern advertisements convince people to abandon their rational thinking and make uninformed choices. Meanwhile, Aroush Mukadam from Bishops Co-ed School, Undri, felt that the choice of products by consumers depend on their own moral code of conduct and used the example of the Consumers Protection Act, which protects consumers from the trap of false advertising to prove her point.

During the event, thought-provoking topics were discussed, including recognizing false advertisements while noting that not all ads are misleading, how products come with a warning and the psychological effect of effective advertising.

La Martiniere for Girls, Kolkata took the winners’ trophy in Category l finals, while The Bishop’s Co-ed School, Undri and Calcutta Boys’ School were the first and second runners-up respectively. The Bishop’s Co-ed School, Undri took the winners’ trophy in Category lI finals, while La Martiniere for Girls, Kolkata were the runners-up. Principal and secretary of Calcutta Boys’ School, Raja McGee, said, “The event is not just a debate but a festival and a platform for not only fostering friendships but also a platform to approve, agree and disagree.”