Dense commentary on social media, PR, marketing, advertising and branding.
Fast-food giant Wendy’s invented the ‘National Roast Day’ back in 2018, as a Twitter version of the ‘roasting’ done by comics at the New York Friars Club, Dean Martin’s Celebrity Roasts in his TV show in the 70s, or the Comedy Central…
The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) recently released a report titled, ” (PDF) based on 1,759 complaints received by the ASCI (against 488 ads) in the last 3 years. ASCI had taken only those complaints that pertain to two of its…
Much has been written about the spectacular pan-India success of the recent Allu Arjun-starrer Pushpa that should be called a ‘Telugu film’, but is instead an ‘Indian film’, given its 5-language release strategy (Telugu, with dubbed versions in Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, and…
Back in early 2021, Unilever’s 108-year old mayonnaise brand Hellmann’s pitched a new product positioning during the Superbowl. The brand’s agency Wunderman Thompson explained the positioning in its website: “An iconic brand that has been sitting in the back of your fridge…
Recently, the Twitter handle of Android (the mobile operating system that belongs to Google) tweeted, “iMessage should not benefit from bullying”. Apple’s iMessage? Bullying? The tweet was a quote-tweet over Hiroshi Lockheimer’s (SVP at Google) tweet where he said, “Apple’s iMessage lock-in…
Since I moved to Bengaluru from Delhi (after I got married) in the year 2000, I have bought just two mattresses for my/our own bed (besides very, very few/occasional mattresses for the beds in the other bedrooms). The one we were sleeping…
How would you react to a label on a bottle of beer that reads, ‘Consider consuming beverages without alcohol content’? Or, a mutual funds ad that adds the note, ‘To avoid market-related risks, consider investing in fixed deposits’? Sounds odd? That’s almost…