Before I get to my top 10 Indian ads of 2025, let me start with a completely unrelated field – film songs. If you were to list the top 10 Hindi film songs of 2025, how would you go about it? You could choose the 10 most popular songs as per YouTube views. Or, if you were lyrically oriented, you could list your favorite songs based on the best lyrics. Or the 10 that were best sung, if singers are your frame of reference. Or a combination of all of that, perhaps, making it a lot more difficult?
I actually do this on my other blog – my top 20 songs across Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada films + my picks for top 20 Hindi pop songs, Tamil pop songs, and the rest/assorted languages. That’s 170 hand-picked songs across 9 playlists!
The point is, there is no one perfect/satisfactory way to make a/any list. I have written about all these ads all through 2025 and have faced comments like, “This ad doesn’t sell the product”, “But how effective was this ad?”, “This ad is too long”, “I lost interest after 10 seconds”, “Making such ads is pointless these days; better let influencers create UGC”, “This ad proves why CMOs should be fired and content creators should take over marketing”, among others.
As an ad industry outsider, I do not have details on whether these ads “sold” the products they are pitching or not, or in what numbers. In fact, expecting one ad to sell a product is quite something. ‘Sales’ happen as a result of a lot of actions by companies, not just one ad. It may also be quite a task to extract sales due to just one ad since things are not so easy and linear.
So, since I’m not into astrology… or predicting how ads would “perform”, I focus on the things that I can control: Did the ad move me in some way? Did it make me think? Did it light a bulb in my head? Did it make me admire the craft? And so on. Since I see a LOT of ads day after day, year after year (easily about 20-30+ per day) it helps that I am able to see a larger picture, get bored with functional ads, and genuinely admire a very few… that I end up writing about.
But I also criticize a LOT of ads. And I write long explanations of why I dislike or do not like some ads. So, from that point of view, point no.3 in this meme by Ramana Charan is misleading 🙂
And no, I do not intend to make a list of Top 10 turkeys (bad ads) of 2025. At least not yet. Do follow me on LinkedIn where I dissect ads I do not like quite often.
Here are the previous year’s top 10 Indian ads, in case you wanted to check them out: 2024, 2023, 2022, and 2021.
And now, for my top India 10 ads of 2025.
1- Native RO by Urban Company (Agency: Manja)
My detailed LinkedIn note on this ad.
This is an audacious—and hilarious—idea to sell this product. But it is rooted in something most users of this product are very familiar with, uttered by the servicing professionals. So, it sets the context for the product’s USP really well. And it is totally entertaining too, with a droll musical score (interjected only by a 1980s style Bollywood rain dance) and excellent acting by the leads.
2- Britannia Marie Gold – Avani Lekhara’s Special Edition (Agency: Talented)
My detailed LinkedIn note on this ad.
There are so many things worth lauding in this campaign. It’s actually a documentary-style communication – it informs, but while doing so, it also entertains. While informing, it helps us understand scale (or the size of the target) using a very relatable context. And while doing so, Britannia also goes the whole hog by actually producing a resized biscuit (even if it is a limited-edition release).
3- Cadbury Dairy Milk: New Neighbour (Agency: Ogilvy India)
My detailed LinkedIn note on this ad.
This is one of those ads that I would use the word ‘adorable’ for 🙂 The narrative in this ad is a terrific hat tip to empathy and inclusivity. That it does the hat tip while using a hugely divisive topic like language is a sheer delight. Just observe the way the lady considering how to tell her husband’s scooter story without the complete comfort of her own language… only because there is at least one person in the audience who may not understand her!
4- Assana Colorectal & Gut Wellness Clinic billboards (Agency: BePositive24)
My LinkedIn note on this ad campaign – Post 1, Post 2
For a category known for hesitance to talk about issues faced, something of this sort was needed. The idea is to bring it all out in the open, loudly so that people know that they can seek professional help without hesitation or shame or doubt. Assana’s billboards are short, crisp, subtly humorous, and very, very eye-catchy. It’s no wonder they went viral globally.
5- Feel at Home: Furlenco (Agency: Very Multimedia Solution)
My LinkedIn note on this ad film.
A very rare ad selling a gender-agnostic product (unlike products specifically targeted at men or women) that showcases an independent woman first, despite having a bigger male celebrity in the ad! Plus, the inclusivity of adopting strays, twice. This ad is proof that even functional communication can be elevated by thinking harder on the details and making every little detail matter.
6- We are all investors: HDFC Mutual Fund (Agency: Publicis India)
My detailed LinkedIn note on this ad film.
True triumph of writing here, making wonderful use of Hindi to paint analogies to ‘investment’ from various parts of life, removed from financial terminologies. Great way to showcase the effect of compunding in the most non-financial manner.
7- Shark Tank India Season 5 – Registrations Now Open: Do Not Apply (Agency: Moonshot)
My detailed LinkedIn note on this ad film.
Stupendous satire that is used to direct interest and attention towards the program’s core idea. The Moonshot team has been coming at the same crux from multiple angles almost every year – employment vs. entrepreneurship. And each year, they do a great job in presenting another facet of the theme, like last year’s Bidaai (of 2 employees, by colleagues). This year’s promo uses topical keywords like nfosys Narayana Murthy’s pet project of ’70 hours work week’ and relies entirely on the big bosses’ perspective for the sarcasm.
8- Truly Irresistible – Vinsmera Jewels (Agency: Nirvana Films/Prakash Varma)
My detailed LinkedIn note on this ad film.
The one truly pathbreaking jewellery brand ad of 2025. Jewellery brands using male celebrities is not new at all. Fahadh Faasil did it too in 2024, for Kavitha Gold & Diamonds.
And quite a few male celebrities front platinum jewellery ads. But what made Vinsmera’s ad special is how the narrative showed a man to be interested in the jewellery. The start of the ad makes it seem like Mohanlal has been tasked with talking over women fawning over Vinsmera’s jewellery, but things take a curious turn when Mohanlal vanishes… along with a piece of jewellery! It’s a lovely idea, made even better by Mohanlal’s acting and the background music.
9- Safe Second Account for daily spends: Airtel Payments Bank (Agency: Fundamental)
My detailed LinkedIn note on this ad campaign: Post 1, Post 2
Probably the sharpest positioning differentiation I have seen in 2025, for any product category. A bank that consciously wants to be your second bank account, not the primary. And it offers a strong reason for this positioning, based on its nature (as a ‘payments’ bank licence holder), rooted in present-day needs and dangers.
10- Shree Anandhaas Sweets and Savouries: Chennai launch (Agency: Desert Hawk, Coimbatore)
My detailed LinkedIn note on this ad campaign.
The most ambitious (narrative-wise) advertising effort, from a regional brand, by a regional advertising agency. Consider the thought process that may have gone into it: Chennai launch of a famous Coimbatore brand. There is bound to be a lot of crowd on launch day. So, getting what you want that day is bound to be difficult. So, should one prepare for jostling with the crowd and making sure you get something? If so, how should you prepare? This paves way to some splendid exaggeration that makes you laugh at both the audacity (of the idea) and the grandness of the presentation 🙂