Hit or Miss: The week in ads

Week two of 2026 doesn’t change the tempo, it deepens it. If last week was about settling in, this week is about staying safely on course. Brands continue to lean into comfort: familiar celebrities, easy humour, and narratives that feel pre-approved rather than exploratory. The work isn’t aiming to surprise; it’s aiming to reassure.

This edition of Hit or Miss reflects that steadiness. The ads are polished, confident, and often likeable, but rarely restless. Where brands sharpen their insights, the storytelling clicks; where they overplay the formula, the work fades into the feed.

Together, these campaigns show an industry favouring consistency over chaos, still warming up, still watching the room, and clearly not yet ready to take its biggest creative swings.

Lahori Zeera - “Har Koi Peera Lahori Zeera 2.0”

After the success of their first ad, Lahori Zeera released a new ad film that keeps you guessing throughout the first half. Created by Enormous, instead of changing direction, it builds on the original’s cultural vibe to strengthen brand recall in a crowded beverage market. The film uses exaggerated, absurd visuals, like people carving holes in objects just to fit the bottle, to show how ingrained the drink has become, reinforcing habit and familiarity rather than selling features.

Wellbeing Nutrition - “The Lighter, Quieter Whey”

Wellbeing Nutrition has rolled out its new campaign “The Lighter, Quieter Whey” for its whey protein range, focusing on digestive comfort rather than just performance. The humour-led film highlights common issues like bloating and heaviness that many consumers face with whey protein, using everyday relatable moments to challenge category norms and show that nutrition should support the body without disruption. The campaign pairs this insight-driven creative with science-backed, digestion-friendly formulations and a digital-first rollout, including influencer partnerships and community fitness activations, aiming to make protein an easy fit in daily life, not just workouts.

TRESemmé - “Hydra Matrix”

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TRESemmé India has launched a playful campaign for its Hydra Matrix haircare range featuring Ananya Panday and filmmaker Anurag Kashyap in a humorous ad film that feels like a behind-the-scenes moment on a movie set. The story shows Kashyap critiquing Panday’s perfectly styled hair mid-shoot, leading to banter about method acting, salons and shampoo before Ananya delivers a witty monologue and pivots to the product. It ends with Kashyap cheekily ‘stealing’ the TRESemmé bottle, using meta-humour and satire to embed the brand message organically.

Apple - “Detectives 8x Zoom”

Apple’s latest ad for the iPhone 17 Pro uses a noir-style narrative to spotlight the phone’s enhanced 8x optical-quality zoom, framing the feature as a storytelling tool rather than a technical spec. Set in a dim warehouse, two detectives debate the impact of a dramatic ‘crash zoom’, which leads to rapid, exaggerated close-ups of mundane details, showing off the reach, clarity and creative potential of the new telephoto lens with its 200 mm equivalent focal length, Apple’s longest yet on an iPhone. The spot is part of the broader Shot on iPhone series and aims to make cinematic camera capabilities feel natural and inspiring.

Leeford Ortho - “Fit Raho, Hit Raho”

Leeford Healthcare’s new film for its Leeford Ortho campaign reframes orthopaedic supports as everyday wellness essentials rather than post-injury solutions. Featuring Tiger Shroff and Varun Sharma, the ad blends fitness-led aspiration with relatable humour to show how people across lifestyles deal with mobility strain in modern, screen-heavy lives. By placing joint care within daily routines, the film positions preventive orthopaedic support as a natural part of staying active and functional.

Tanishq - “Give Wings to the Girl Within”

Tanishq has unveiled its ‘Festival of Diamonds’ campaign with Ananya Panday as the face of the brand, celebrating the timeless allure of natural diamonds and the joy they spark. The film opens in a green-room setting with a playful young girl trying on diamond jewellery, later revealed to be Panday herself, blending childlike wonder with modern womanhood. The narrative positions diamonds not just as occasional jewellery but as an expression of identity, self-belief and everyday style, aligning the brand with emotional authenticity and personal freedom.

House of Abhinandan Lodha - “No Drama”

The House of Abhinandan Lodha has launched its new “No Drama” campaign starring Boman Irani and Aparshakti Khurana to demystify the land-buying process in India. The work consists of six short, light-hearted films that tackle common anxieties around land purchases, like unclear titles, legal hassles, encroachment risks and lack of transparency, by showing how HoABL’s digital, transparent, tech-led approach makes buying land simpler, more secure and accessible for a broader audience, including younger investors.

Tata Capital - “Champions Ki Gulliyon Mein”

Tata Capital has launched its “Champions Ki Gulliyon Mein” campaign ahead of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) Season 4, marking its fourth straight year as a premier partner of the league. The campaign’s main film, set in a neighbourhood gully, shows young girls playing cricket on a makeshift pitch. Current WPL stars like Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana join them, drawing a connection between grassroots gully cricket and professional success. The campaign celebrates the origins of sporting ambition and underscores Tata Capital’s commitment to supporting women’s cricket, rolling out across TV, digital, social, and on-ground channels during the tournament.

Flipkart - “Save Se Itna Pyaar”

Flipkart’s Republic Day Sale campaign teasing uses a playful social creative that swaps “sev” (as in sev bhujia) with “save” to make the idea of saving money feel familiar and fun, like grabbing a snack, while promoting big discounts across products when the sale begins on January 17. The ad copy and reels mix the wordplay (“sev/save”) with energetic calls to action, encouraging shoppers to catch deals on mobiles, electronics and more during the event, with early access for Plus and Black members.