Hit or Miss: The week in ads

This week's crop of campaigns captures advertising at its most inventive and, occasionally, its most contentious. Flipkart and Netflix reimagine the humble curtain as a media surface in "Entertainment Ka Pardah," poking fun at India's nosy-neighbour culture while nudging viewers toward a Netflix membership. Google, meanwhile, enlists Shah Rukh Khan to make Gemini Live feel like a friend you can speak freely with, wrapping AI in warmth and multilingual accessibility. Not every story this week is lighthearted, though. BECO's escalating war of words with Hindustan Unilever has moved from billboards to the Delhi High Court, raising sharp questions about where comparative advertising crosses the line into disparagement.

Raksha Bandhan also gets its moment, with Flipkart turning sibling reminders into a workplace mission and Delhivery using the festival to explore emotional distance between estranged siblings. Sweet Karam Coffee brings its beloved Paati to Mumbai via the city's dabbawalas, while Titan Raga's Alia Bhatt-led film champions individuality over convention. Zomato taps into Chennai's cultural pride with a rap anthem, and L&T Finance enlists Jasprit Bumrah to make gold loans feel aspirational rather than transactional. 

A week that spans humour, heart, and a courtroom showdown.

Flipkart x Netflix - “Entertainment Ka Pardah”

Flipkart and Netflix have launched “Entertainment Ka Pardah,” a playful activation built around the very Indian habit of nosy neighbours peeking through windows. Created by Talented, the campaign turns residential curtains into unexpected media surfaces, giving people inside their homes privacy while offering those outside a more entertaining view through Netflix. The accompanying film uses deadpan humour to portray neighbours treating other people’s windows as their favourite source of entertainment. The idea cleverly connects the curtain, traditionally used to hide what happens inside, with Netflix as a better source of entertainment, while promoting the Netflix membership available with select Flipkart orders.

https://youtu.be/HH2jCqpGNrc

Google - “Ab dost hai saath, toh khul ke karo baat”

Google Gemini has launched a campaign for Gemini Live featuring Shah Rukh Khan, positioning conversational AI as an approachable everyday companion. Created by McCann India and Nirvana Films, with Prasoon Joshi leading the campaign's creative direction, the film uses Khan's familiar warmth and humour to show how users can speak freely with Gemini, ask questions, explore ideas, and get help with everyday decisions. Built around the line “Ab dost hai saath, toh khul ke karo baat,” the campaign also highlights Gemini's multilingual capabilities, making advanced AI feel more accessible and relevant to India's diverse audiences.

https://youtu.be/0rwdkVMaJZM

Beco - “Time to Switch”

BECO’s new campaign has taken its comparative advertising strategy a step further by directly calling out ingredients used in HUL’s Surf Excel Matic Liquid and Vim Dishwash Gel. The campaign claims that its independent testing, conducted through an NABL-accredited laboratory, detected Benzisothiazolinone (BIT) and Linear Alkylbenzene Sulfonate (LAS) in the tested Surf Excel product, and LAS in Vim. BECO then connects these ingredients with scientific literature around potential skin irritation and allergic reactions, using the findings to urge consumers to reconsider what goes into their everyday cleaning products.

The campaign has now escalated into a legal battle, with Hindustan Unilever moving the Delhi High Court seeking an interim injunction. HUL argues that BECO's ads are “untrue and misleading” and disparaging, claiming that BECO tested only the presence and concentration of the ingredients, not whether the finished Surf Excel or Vim products actually cause skin irritation or allergies when used normally. HUL also argued that BECO was taking findings about individual chemicals and presenting them as evidence that its finished products are harmful. The court has sought BECO's response, but has not yet granted an interim injunction, making the dispute an interesting test of how far comparative advertising can go when a challenger moves from saying “our product is better” to suggesting that a competitor's product may be harmful.

https://youtu.be/6yXfRlBZdao

Flipkart - “Hire a Rakhi Reminder”

Flipkart has launched “Hire a Rakhi Reminder,” turning the familiar task of reminding brothers about Raksha Bandhan gifts into an actual job. Created by 22feet, part of Omnicom Advertising India, the campaign lets sisters recruit their brothers’ colleagues as Brother Reminder Officers (B.R.Os) through a microsite. The colleagues then deliver reminders through targeted LinkedIn ads and in-person nudges, along with offers for Flipkart’s Rakhi Store, while earning SuperCoins for completing the mission. A humorous film brings the idea to life by treating Rakhi reminders like a workplace responsibility.

https://youtu.be/dCpckqBY9c0

Delhivery - “This Rakhi, Bridge the Distance”

Delhivery has launched “Bridge the Distance” for Raksha Bandhan, exploring the emotional distance that can emerge between siblings as life, circumstances, and disagreements change. The hero film follows a brother and sister who grow apart after he struggles to accept her decision to marry for love. As Raksha Bandhan approaches, a rakhi becomes the gesture that helps reopen their relationship. At the same time, Delhivery positions packages as carriers of more than just goods—they can carry memories, emotions, and promises. The campaign encourages people to take the first step towards reconnecting, whether the distance is physical or emotional.

https://youtu.be/aINipBL7DFE

Sweet Karam Coffee - “Ab Mumbai Mein”

Sweet Karam Coffee has introduced Paati to Mumbai with a campaign built around a simple message: slow down and savour the moment. Partnering with the city’s iconic Mumbai Dabbawalas, the brand distributed 25,000 lunch bags containing Peanut Chikki and a heartfelt note from Paati, encouraging Mumbaikars to pause amid their relentless daily hustle. Using Mumbai’s famously fast-paced lifestyle as its backdrop, the activation turns an everyday delivery ritual into a reminder that while trains, dabbas, and the city will keep moving, there is still sweetness to be found in slowing down.

https://youtu.be/KEoiB6guENg

Raga by Titan - “Your way is Beautiful”

Titan Raga has launched “Your Way Is Beautiful,” featuring brand ambassador Alia Bhatt, to celebrate women who define beauty and femininity on their own terms. Created by Ogilvy, the three-part digital campaign explores everyday situations where women face judgement, assumptions, and unsolicited opinions, showing how they respond with confidence, empathy, and self-awareness. Rather than presenting strength and softness as opposites, the campaign embraces the contradictions of modern femininity—grace and grit, compassion and conviction, softness and strength—positioning individuality and authenticity as the real markers of beauty.

https://youtu.be/pZTajmkbwAk

Zomato - “Veppam is our Weapon”

Zomato has launched “Veppam Is Our Weapon,” a Chennai anthem created in collaboration with regional rapper Paal Dabba, celebrating the city's distinctive culture, energy, and resilience. Built around Chennai's relationship with heat: from its scorching weather to its fiery food, the music video uses local language, imagery, and everyday references to create an authentically Chennai narrative. Rather than treating heat as something to escape, the campaign reframes it as a source of strength and pride, capturing the city's ability to embrace pressure and turn it into fuel.

https://youtu.be/TEkxF-n1lUE

L&T Finance - “Koi Bhi Sapna Hold Mat Karo”

L&T Finance has launched a three-film campaign, “Koi Bhi Sapna Hold Mat Karo, L&T Finance Gold Loan Karo,” featuring brand ambassador Jasprit Bumrah to promote its Gold Loan offerings. The light-hearted TVCs show Bumrah helping a farmer expand his livestock, a homemaker fulfil her desire for new appliances, and a kirana store owner restock his business, positioning gold as a financial asset that can help turn aspirations into action. Blending humour with everyday financial challenges, the campaign presents Bumrah as a trusted problem solver while encouraging consumers to unlock the value of idle household gold.

https://youtu.be/6deetXtxVvc