Karthik ๐ฎ๐ณ
@beastoftraal โข 92,122 subscribers
Communications strategy consultant (see pinned tweet). Connect with me for corporate workshops on personal branding. No paid posts - my words are not for sale.
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"Usne Tum Logon Ko Ch****a Banaya. Jaante Ho Kyun? Kyunki Tum Ch****e Ho. Dharam Ke Naam Par Ch****e Ban Gaye Tum Log. Aur Bante Rahoge. Tum Bante Rahoge. Tumhe Maarne Waala Har Woh Hindu Bante Rahega. Har Woh Aadmi Jiske Paas Kuch Nahi Karne Ko, Dharam Ke Naam Par Ch****a Bante Rahega."
Karthik ๐ฎ๐ณ483,810 views โข 4 months ago
Hahahahahaha... this is a brilliant way to use a celebrity in an ad ๐ Not only does not use Ranveer Singh (and Johnny Sins - 'Google' him!) in a totally unexpected (and hilarious) way using the much-derided Indian TV series trope, but it also makes the product category far more accessible to a wider set of people beyond it being used in hushed tones! Great job by Moonshot, the agency. #advertising #marketing #creative #creativity
Karthik ๐ฎ๐ณ3,008,602 views โข 2 years ago
Back in the early-2000s when the Cola wars were in vogue, Pepsi first retorted to Coca-Cola's 'Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola' (starring Aamir Khan who recently credited someone other than the person who is often credited for that slogan: with a campaign where Fardeen Khan, who is seen running an empty stall says, 'Business Thanda Matlab, Cola Cola'. While that ad has vanished off the internet, there is another variant in that series that still exists. In this ad featuring Rahul Khanna and Fardeen Khan, the latter uses Coca-Cola's slogan of that time verbatim - 'Life ho toh aisi'. But the context in which he utters is meant as a direct attack on Coca-Cola. Even his t-shirt has that fake brand (Cola-Cola, also in the shop's sign board) in the cola's signature red! Compared to such direct attacks, the Cola wars (there was one recently, around 'half time) now seem tame. It's good in a way, though - less people need to drink (naturally or artificially) sugared carbonated drinks anyway, given that they are horribly unhealthy. So, less noise is always better :) #advertising #marketing #brandrivalry
Karthik ๐ฎ๐ณ48,855 views โข 16 days ago
Such a badly made ad film, for a premium watch brand like Rado, and featuring stars like Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif! As you start watching it, observe the presence and absence (and changing hands, left to right) of the ring on Katrina's finger. Then, from 0:38 to 0:42, all I could do is a combination of LOL + cringe as it becomes completely apparent that the stars are not together in a shoot but were digitally (AI?) put together in a really bad way. The clumsy way the ad's makers have managed (or botched up) the 'eye contact' is both hilarious and sad. Couldn't the brand have spent at least a fraction of the fees paid to the two stars in getting a better agency to do a better edit where things are not so laughably silly? #advertising #marketing
Karthik ๐ฎ๐ณ545,334 views โข 11 months ago
'Men will be men' with a wonderful twist! For the Swiss retailer Migros, agency Thjnk Zรผrich takes a refreshingly unconventional approach to showcasing fresh produce. The most predictable route would have been to feature two mothers competing to pack the most imaginative, healthy lunchbox for their kids. But that trope is tired, and wouldn't have made a dent at all. In fact, if it were two mothers, the narrative would probably lean into them exchanging recipes and happily shopping at Migros together. Instead, by putting two dads in the arena, the ad unlocks a hilarious, hyper-competitive dynamic. What starts as a simple lunchbox comparison quickly spirals into an absurd arms race of food art with cucumber crocodiles and carrot race cars to an all-out gourmet standoff at a neighborhood barbecue. Itโs the petty, silent game of oneupmanship between the dads that makes the ad memorable, all while seamlessly driving home the brand's message: they have the widest range of fresh produce to fuel any culinary ambition. #advertising #marketing #creativity
Karthik ๐ฎ๐ณ76,774 views โข 1 month ago
The same scene, across three languages: Revathi & Karthik, Mouna Raagam (Tamil, 1986) Neelam & Chunky Pandey, Kasak (Hindi, 1992) Prema & Shiva Rajkumar, Chandrodaya (Kannada, 1999) What monumental difference in staging, acting, and most importantly the power of background music (Ilayaraja, Rajesh Roshan, and Hamsalekha, respectively).
Karthik ๐ฎ๐ณ758,917 views โข 1 year ago
If I say, 'Liril Soap' and 'Laaa la la la la', many people may start humming the classic Liril soap ad jingle. But the shocker is that the jingle was not original, but "inspired"! The bigger shocker was that the original jingle was also made for a lime-based soap just like HUL's Liril - Henkel's Fa! Henkel's Fa ad campaign in 1968-69 by the Dรผsseldorf-based agency Hubert Troost Werbeagentur (usually called Troost) featured the 'Laaa la la la la' song. It was composed by the German composer Klaus Doldinger. The jingle became so popular that a vinyl single of the track (Listen: was released in 1969 under the pseudonym Paul Nero Sounds (one of Doldingerโs aliases for his more commercial/pop-oriented output at the time), explicitly tied to the Fa commercial: "Paul Nero Sounds (Klaus Doldinger) - Wild Freshness (FA Commercial)". It appeared on compilations like Pop-Shopping: Juicy Music From German Commercials 1960-1975. Liril's (the soap itself inspired by Fa) first ad was released in 1974, in cinema theaters. It featured Air India stewardess Karen Lunel, and was made by the agency Lintas, and directed by Kailash Surendranath. The jingle was credited to Vanraj Bhatia (even though he simply added some Indian elements like Sitar, as an interlude, the actual melody was a direct lift from the Fa ad jingle by Klaus) and was sung by Preeti Desai. That two lime-based soaps, across 2 countries, have almost similar visual devices (shots of the soap interspersed with bikini-clad woman bathing) and identical music, is no coincidence, and is probably part of the larger ethos of that time in India when Hindi film music too heavily "borrowed" from foreign sources without any credit. I should know, because I created an entire website listing original songs against many, many Indian film songs: (many of the song links may be broken but you can always Google the titles and find new uploads on YouTube). The Fa ad plays first, followed by the Liril ad. #advertising #marketing
Karthik ๐ฎ๐ณ130,231 views โข 3 months ago
BJP missed a great marketing opportunity in making Modi's meditation into an interactive event since they have already invested in such an impressive multi-camera set-up. They should have announced a 'Meditate with Modi' virtual event where they livestream the entire 45-hour meditation on Modi's YouTube channel and ask devotees (of Modi, that is) to join him in meditating (from the comfort of their own homes). Now, I hope BJP at least has the presence of mind to, a. Send the edited video as a nomnation for the best cinematography Oscar next year, and b. Release a 'Behind the scenes' video to showcase how impressive the camera work is.
Karthik ๐ฎ๐ณ506,884 views โข 2 years ago
Dinshaw's new ad for its ice cream cone, featuring Vinod Kambli, by the agency Womb, left me dismayed. The narrative crux is the line "Jinko life mein thoda kam mila, unke liye thoda zyada". The subject of that "thoda kam mila" framing is a real, living person whose health struggles, public breakdowns and financial difficulties are well-documented and ongoing. Sure, many feel Kambli deserved more in life. But this ad film doesn't redeem that narrative. It harvests it to sell ice cream cones. The word "dildaari" (generosity) is doing particularly cynical work here. It's a loaded, noble word, implying big-heartedness, even grace. The agency's narrative applies it to the extra chocolate at the bottom of a cone!! The deflation is almost comic, and the asymmetry between the weight of the human story and the lightness of the product is utterly jarring. I can anticipate the counter: "Won't viewers empathise with Kambli? Won't younger audiences Google him and feel for him?" Perhaps. But there's a meaningful difference between empathy and sympathy. Empathy is feeling *with* someone ("I know what it's like to work hard and not get recognised"). Sympathy is feeling *for* someone ("Poor Kambli, he lost everything"). This ad pushes firmly toward sympathy, and then does this with it: 1. Kambli got less. 2. Poor Kambli. 3. Dinshaw's gives more. 4. Buy this cone. If a young person Googles Kambli and discovers he is currently battling neurological issues and financial distress, the ad's cheerful metaphor of an ice cream cone bringing him joy looks jarringly inadequate... like the brand is leveraging real-time vulnerability for a summer sale. Kambli was paid for this, yes. But the cruelest irony is that he may have needed the money, which makes the entire exercise more uncomfortable, not less. By choosing the "deserved more" arc, Dinshaw's and Womb lock him into a permanent state of failure. He isn't a collaborator in this story. He's the cautionary tale. I hope this ad doesn't normalise a template: find a fallen public figure, wrap their misfortune in warm language, sell something cheerful. #advertising #marketing
Karthik ๐ฎ๐ณ78,817 views โข 3 months ago
XYXX's new ad (agency: PinkSauce Studios) is a brilliant exercise in gender-role reversal used as a comic device. But beneath the humor, it is a smart strategy to solve a unique marketing problem: how to differentiate the selling of an unsexy, utilitarian, and deeply unglamorous garment that has traditionally been sold only in one way in India - the 'macho' way? The 'macho' way of selling baniyans has always been about roping in a famous male movie star (one of the Khans, Varun Dhawan, etc.) and selling an imaginary world where men miraculously inherit a movie star's magnetism just by putting on a specific brand of baniyan. This ad takes a completely different route and forces men to think about fit and aesthetics of a garment they rarely talk about. How? By lavishing as much attention on a baniyan as women (and the world) do on a bra! By comparing it to the intense public scrutiny, "staring", judgment, and hyper-awareness surrounding women's bras, the ad forces men to look at their innerwear through a social lens. And by having a man say, 'My eyes are here' to a group of women in a public bus, the ad mines humor through subversion! Of course, I thought there was a false equivalence of scrutiny too - for women, the public policing and hyper-sexualization of bra lines or straps isn't just about "looking messy". It is tied to deeply rooted issues of modesty/moral-policing, objectification, and personal safety. For men? A visible baniyan line or a peek of fabric at the collar is just a style slip-up or a sign of being slightly old-fashioned. By equating a womanโs genuine discomfort with a manโs minor fashion embarrassment, is the ad trivializing a heavy social issue to sell an innerwear? In other words, is it suggesting that the gaze is symmetrical, when in reality, the power dynamic behind that gaze is completely different? But then, I don't think the ad is equating the danger or the systemic oppression. It is onlt using a universally understood cultural pain-point to create a surreal and absurd taboo-flip. If it makes men uncomfortable, thatโs perhaps the point, because that discomfort may drive both social awareness and product consideration.
Karthik ๐ฎ๐ณ39,970 views โข 1 month ago
Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha ๐ Fantastic use of a popular Diwali 'meme' in its Diwali 2024 ad by Zomato! Hands down, the funniest Diwali ad (while also being apt for Zomato) so far. Conceived in-house (says a lot about the kind of talent that exists inside Zomato) and produced by Ryde Studios. #advertising #marketing #diwali #deepavali
Karthik ๐ฎ๐ณ358,402 views โข 1 year ago
This is interesting! Aamir Khan says that 'Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola' (the line, the concept) was director Ashutosh Gowariker's idea (who directed the ad, of course). The ad is widely credited to Prasoon Joshi, the then national creative director of McCann Erickson India.
Karthik ๐ฎ๐ณ203,727 views โข 1 year ago
Hahahahaha... shots fired at my favoritest Biryani place in Bengaluru by Nandhini Deluxe! I'm assuming the concept and writing is by Sachin 'Gommaboy' Kumar (who also features in the video along with Muskan Arora). I fully expect (and want) my favorite Biryani joint in Bengaluru (mentioned with a very, very sly twist in the end - wait for it) to respond in kind, with the same punch as their phenomenal biryani ๐ I have not considered trying biryani from Nandhini Deluxe at all so far, but after seeing this video, I just might give it a try. #advertising #marketing #influencer #creativity
Karthik ๐ฎ๐ณ102,669 views โข 6 months ago