Karthik S | beastoftraal.com

Split-screen advertising (Part 1)

February 28, 2022January 12, 2023 by Karthik S

Part 2 of this series: . A famous dialog in the film Contact (1997; based on the book by Carl Sagan) went, “First rule in government spending: why build one when you can have two at twice the price?”. How does that…

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The mythical LinkedIn content dos and don’ts

February 25, 2022February 25, 2022 by Karthik S

Russia invades Ukraine.Praggnanandhaa wins against Magnus Carlsen.India wins the world cup cricket tournament.Neeraj Chopra wins Olympic Gold for India. What is the one thing that is predictably bound to happen when events like this occur? As many people frequently comment on Twitter…

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Coca-Cola India vs. coffee, glucose, and Snickers!

February 24, 2022January 22, 2024 by Karthik S

A recent Pepsi 7UP ad (by DDB Mudra) showed a man seated in the ladies’ seat on a public bus. A young woman wanted that seat, and just as she arrived near that seat, the man feigned to be asleep (even as…

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Anthropomorphism as a creative device in advertising

February 23, 2022June 22, 2025 by Karthik S

Related reading: Personification as a creative device in advertising Anthropomorphism, or making inanimate/nonhuman objects talk, emote, or behave like humans is a fairly popular creative device in advertising. There are various degrees of this trope… like giving human features to inanimate objects,…

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Shiny new toys online to drive engagement

February 22, 2022February 22, 2022 by Karthik S

“Should I do LinkedIn polls more often? They get me a lot of engagement!” “What’s the best time to post on Instagram in India?” “No one clicks on my links on Twitter anymore. Should I do a thread, instead?” I get asked…

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Builder’s unsolicited love affair with Air India

February 21, 2022February 23, 2022 by Karthik S

Related read: Builder says (in an interview with Moneycontrol) it reached out to Air India after the first unsolicited ad that mentioned their name, and Air India, according to Builder, did not insist on canceling the campaign’s next stage (app reveal). This…

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Ghee Me Red!

February 18, 2022February 18, 2022 by Karthik S

There’s a famous Halwa shop in Tirunelveli, called Iruttu Kadai Halwa. ‘Iruttu Kadai’ literally means ‘dark shop’, and refers to the shop owner’s chosen tradition of selling the halwa in an outlet (the only outlet) with minimal light! Similarly, there’s a famous…

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