Karthik S | beastoftraal.com

Brand hara-kiri

February 17, 2022February 17, 2022 by Karthik S

In the recent (December 2021) Winter Cup, the All-Japan High School Basketball Tournament, conducted by the Japan Basketball Association (JBA), a peculiar item made its debut. Given the speed of the game, including rapid movements and tactical maneuvers, cleanliness of the court…

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A screenwriter son, a proud father, and the internet

February 16, 2022February 16, 2022 by Karthik S

Imagine this: a 70-year-old man is walking down the market wearing an interesting t-shirt. The T-shirt has the text, ‘My son is the writer of (name of a movie). Do watch the movie!’. Most of the people walking around him see the…

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“Will I get in trouble if I share this online?”

February 15, 2022February 15, 2022 by Karthik S

A decade ago, while I was traveling back from Mumbai to Bengaluru after a work trip, I got a call from my boss (the India head) while I was in a cab (from the airport). He told me that the regional office…

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The imprecise framing of Cadbury Silk’s secret messages

February 14, 2022February 14, 2022 by Karthik S

When I first saw this new AR (Augmented Reality) activation by Cadbury Silk for Valentine’s Day 2022, I did not get it. The idea is by Cadbury’s agency in India, Ogilvy. Teen romances are frowned upon in India? Yes, of course. This,…

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Spotify’s botched PR move on the JRE controversy

February 11, 2022February 11, 2022 by Karthik S

To be sure, anyone can host a podcast on Spotify. It’s just like uploading a video on YouTube – just that, instead of actually hosting your audio content the way you upload your video content to YouTube, you’d essentially be only giving…

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Reverse storytelling in advertising

February 10, 2022February 10, 2022 by Karthik S

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forward“, is a famous quote by Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. I discovered this thought-provoking quote while reading Blake Crouch’s novel, Recursion. That thought may be apt for life, but what about…

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Listening to our own bodies, via machines

February 9, 2022February 9, 2022 by Karthik S

It was exactly 7 years ago that I first tried a fitness band. I had won a GOQii band at the WPP Stream India event in Jaipur (that I first attended while at Ogilvy) and till then I had no inclination to…

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