Karthik S | beastoftraal.com

Kumar Mangalam Birla’s social media trial-run

January 6, 2021January 6, 2021 by Karthik S

Kumar Mangalam Birla is one of the few billionaire industrialists in India who is yet to join any social media platform officially. He doesn’t even have a LinkedIn profile (not that he needs one anyway), so forget Twitter or Instagram. But his…

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Vijay, Vijay Sethupathi, Master and Apple

January 5, 2021January 6, 2021 by Karthik S

This post contains some spoilers about certain films like Knives Out, Vikram Vedha, Petta, Dhoom, etc. Back in July 2020, I had written about brands’ attempt to control how their products are showcased in movies, TV shows, and pop culture, in general….

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Colgate and Dabur join Idhayam in pulling Indians to oil pulling!

January 4, 2021January 4, 2021 by Karthik S

Back in the mid-2000s, the Tamil Nadu-based Gingelly Oil brand Idhayam unleashed an extensive multimedia campaign for something relatively unknown till then – Oil Pulling. Oil pulling, a procedure mentioned in the Ayurvedic text Charaka Samhita under names like Kavala or Gandusha,…

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My top posts in 2020

December 31, 2020December 31, 2020 by Karthik S

A customary annual round-up! This is also the only time I seriously look at the post views using Google Analytics. Looking back, WordPress informs me that I have written 256 posts in 2020. My usual target is 1 post per weekday and…

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A slice of Indian history on a board game!

December 25, 2020December 25, 2020 by Karthik S

I stumbled upon the ‘Bharata 600 BC’ board game through an article in the Hindu Metroplus day-before-yesterday. The game is pricey, at Rs. 3,800, but beyond the price I was astounded by the detailing and design of the game! The first thing…

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Facebook India’s language-impaired advertising

December 24, 2020December 24, 2020 by Karthik S

Tamil newspaper (Dinathanthi). Tamil headline and Tamil campaign name (Pudhiya Aarambham). Hindi newspaper (Navbharat Times). Hindi headline and Hindi campaign name (Nayi Shuruaat). English newspaper editions of Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kolkata (The Times of India). Hinglish headline and Hindi campaign name written…

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Kids, dads, and SUVs

December 23, 2020December 23, 2020 by Karthik S

Three ads from October, November, and December 2020. October 2020: The agency Cheil India, for their client MG Motors’ Gloster. (October 28)/November 2020: The agency Saatchi & Saatchi Australia, for their client Toyota (Hilux). December 2020: The agency Publicis United States, for…

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