Hit or Miss: The week in ads

The festive season has officially arrived in advertising, and this week's best ads make it clear that brands are not waiting for Diwali to start the conversation. With the Great Indian Festival and Big Billion Days gearing up for battle, Amazon and Flipkart have turned to humour, wordplay and familiar faces to make shoppers act fast. Ravi Kishan's "Jaldi!" gets a festive payoff, The Great Khali becomes a pun on upgrades, Piyush Mishra regrets what could have been, and numerology decides your luck score.

Elsewhere, celebrity power is working overtime. Ranbir Kapoor steps into FMCG with Flux Theory, Sachin Tendulkar begins a new innings with ChatGPT, and Tiger Shroff takes "split" a little too literally for super.money. PhonePe turns its 10th anniversary into a 980-day thank you, OnePlus brings generations together over a Diwali video call, and boAt puts its AI on a Titanic-style plank. Zendaya, meanwhile, fights her way through an action movie for On.

From scale and sentiment to satire and spectacle, this week's creative work shows how brands are blending star power, cultural references and sharp ideas to cut through the noise. Here are the campaigns that stood out this week, from first scroll to last laugh.

Flux Theory - “Stay In Flux”

Ranbir Kapoor has launched Flux Theory, a new shower-care brand created with Advay Jhunjhunwala and Think9, marking his entry into the FMCG space as its Founder. The launch film brings five of Kapoor’s iconic characters (Barfi, Bunny, Jordan, Ayan, and Shiva) together to showcase the idea that people can embody different personalities depending on their mood and the moment. Each character is paired with one of Flux Theory’s five shower gels, with distinct fragrances and skin benefits. Built around the thought “Who do you want to be today?”, the campaign positions the shower as more than a daily routine, turning it into a moment to pause, reset and step into a different version of oneself.

ChatGPT - “Sachin Tendulkar Starts a New Innings”

OpenAI has partnered with cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar in a multi-year collaboration aimed at helping more people across India understand and use AI in their everyday lives. The partnership will use content, campaigns and experiences to showcase practical applications of ChatGPT, from learning and developing ideas to exploring personal interests and solving everyday problems. The collaboration opens with a teaser in which Tendulkar asks ChatGPT to identify him through 10 questions, offering a glimpse into how he interacts with the tool.

Amazon - “Mehenga Padega Wait”

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Amazon’s Great Indian Festival campaign builds on Ravi Kishan’s viral “Jaldi, the late” catchphrase, turning the urgency to shop into the central campaign idea. What initially appeared as a cryptic series of “Jaldi!” videos is revealed as part of the festive campaign, with the line “Mehenga padega wait” reinforcing the message that waiting could mean missing out on deals.

Flipkart - “Maine Prem Nahi Kiya featuring Piyush Prem Mishra”

Flipkart has launched a new campaign for its biggest iPhone offers during Big Billion Days, conceptualised by McCann India. The mockumentary-style film features actor Piyush Mishra reflecting on his biggest regret — turning down the lead role in Maine Pyar Kiya — and uses the missed opportunity as a humorous metaphor for missing the iPhone deals at BBD. Styled within the world of the iconic film, Mishra imagines himself as its hero, surrounded by familiar music and visual cues while dwelling on what could have been.

Amazon - “Bann Gaya "THE GREAT" KHALI”

Amazon’s Great Indian Festival campaign features The Great Khali in a humorous film built around the idea of bringing the “Great” back into his life. The film shows Khali struggling with everyday inconveniences in a rundown house, from a refrigerator door coming off to a malfunctioning phone, suggesting that everything around him is in need of an upgrade.

Flipkart - “Jitna lucky naam, utna badhiya inaam”

Flipkart and McCann India have brought numerology into the Big Billion Days campaign with ‘Luck By Naam’, featuring celebrity numerologist Sanjay B Jumaani. Built around the belief that a person’s name can influence their luck, the campaign invites shoppers to enter their names on LuckByNaam.com and discover a personalised ‘Luck Score’ using Jumaani’s Chaldean numerology method, with higher scores unlocking more Flipkart SuperCoins.

PhonePe - “70+ Crore Names. One Very Big Thank You”

PhonePe has marked its 10th anniversary with a new brand film that attempts to thank all of its 70 crore registered users by name. Conceptualised by Ogilvy, the campaign features Shahu Supreme, who holds the Indian record for speaking 494 words per minute, taking on the challenge of naming PhonePe’s users at his maximum speed. Even at that pace, the film calculates that it would take him 980 consecutive days to name all 70 crore users.

OnePlus - “Make it special for the people who made it special for you”

OnePlus India has launched the third edition of its festive #MakeItSpecial campaign for Diwali 2026, celebrating togetherness across generations. Conceptualised in-house, the campaign film follows an elderly couple whose traditional Diwali celebration gets a Gen Z twist when their grandchildren introduce them to dance challenges, games and music over a video call. Smriti Mandhana then joins the celebration, encouraging the grandparents to participate in a Diwali dance challenge with choreographer Nicole Concessao, blending modern festivities with familiar traditions such as diyas, sweets and rangoli. Featuring creators Vishnu Kaushal and Govind Kaushal, the campaign explores how technology can bring generations together without replacing the traditions they value.

super.money - “Split It, Get It”

super.money has launched a new campaign for splitStore featuring Tiger Shroff, conceptualised by Talented. The film plays on the word “split”, with Tiger taking the brand’s “Split karna… saste mein milega” message literally and splitting himself across a sauna, living room, football field and gym. His gym buddy eventually clarifies that it is the payment, not himself, that needs to be split. The campaign uses Tiger’s signature physicality and humour to highlight splitStore’s Pay in 3 feature, which lets shoppers divide payments into three parts without interest or fees.

On - “Zendaya in your new favorite action movie”

On and Zendaya have launched the second co-created collection from their partnership with a new action-film-inspired campaign, directed by Argentinian trio Pantera through SMUGGLER. Set in a dreamlike urban world, the film follows Zendaya as she is pursued by a group of athletic women, leading to a series of choreographed martial-arts-style fight sequences. Wearing pieces from the new collection, including a python-print outfit, Zendaya uses the clothing and accessories in unexpected ways as she fights her way to safety, with Law Roach eventually helping her escape.

boAt - “Ask Crest”

boAt has unveiled a new film under its ‘Upgrade to boAt’ campaign, taking its CREST AI-powered smart audio experience to the middle of the ocean. The film parodies the iconic Titanic plank scene, with two characters stranded on an 8×4 wooden plank and asking CREST AI whether they can both fit on it. The AI offers three possible solutions, before unexpectedly asking, “Wait, are you a Leo?”, adding a humorous twist to the situation. Built with Google Gemini, CREST AI brings conversational, voice-led assistance to compatible boAt audio devices.