Hit or Miss: The week in ads

Diwali has a way of making brands sentimental, and this week’s crop of films proves it. Across categories, the festive season has pushed marketers towards a common idea: what matters most is who you celebrate with, not what you spend. Titan argues that family is often chosen, Samsung gathers a household around one screen, and Maggi turns a table into a mirror for the distance that creeps in between people under one roof.

Not everyone has taken the emotional route, though. Zomato gives Saif Ali Khan a hamper worth a real WOW, while Google lets Sunil Grover play an entire extended family in the name of festive planning. Škoda’s cow-on-the-stairs conversation and Mentos’ flour mill gust prove absurdity still sells, and Hinge finds romance in the smallest of gestures.

Then there is the other festival creeping into the Indian marketing calendar. Candyman borrows from Darr for a playful Halloween push, while Tesla turns the Model Y into a haunted attraction through a software update.

Some tug at the heartstrings, some tickle the funny bone, and all fought hard for attention in a crowded season. Here are the ten campaigns that stood out this week, from the heartfelt to the hilarious.

Zomato - “Saif’s Diwali Party”
Zomato has launched ‘Saif’s Diwali Party’, a digital-first festive campaign featuring Saif Ali Khan, built around the idea of bringing traditional food gifts back into Diwali hampers. The film shows Khan receiving familiar festive gifts such as towels, bedsheets, soaps, and crockery, responding to each with an understated “WOW”. However, his reaction changes when a Zomato delivery partner arrives with a hamper of food.


Google - “Tyohaar-Maxxing with Sunil Grover”
Google Gemini has launched ‘Tyohaar-Maxxing’, a Diwali campaign featuring comedian and actor Sunil Grover in multiple avatars. The film sees Grover portray members of two families coming together to celebrate the festival, with each character sharing how they have used Gemini to make their celebrations more special. From planning festivities and decorating homes to adding thoughtful creative touches, the film showcases how the AI assistant can support different aspects of Diwali preparations.



Škoda - “Says It All”
Škoda Auto India and BBH India have unveiled a quirky film for the new Slavia as part of their ‘Says It All.’ campaign, built around an unusual conversation about a cow that can walk up a flight of stairs but cannot walk back down. The seemingly random discussion takes an unexpected turn before eventually leading to the new Slavia, using humour and curiosity to bring the car into focus without a conventional product pitch.



Titan - “This Diwali, Celebrate The Bonds That Become Family”
Titan has unveiled ‘Chosen Family’, a new campaign celebrating relationships and emotional bonds that extend beyond conventional family structures. The campaign explores how friends, mentors and other significant people can become family through shared experiences, support and companionship. Moving beyond traditional ideas of familial connections, the film highlights the role these chosen relationships play in shaping individuals and standing by them through different phases of life.


Hinge - “Designed to be deleted”
Hinge has launched a new campaign created by Talented, titled ‘Small Gestures, Big Love Stories’, exploring how seemingly ordinary acts of consideration can become meaningful signs of finding the right partner. Comprising four films and six shorter stories, the campaign draws on real-life experiences, including a partner remembering details about someone’s family, putting up a balcony net to address their fear of birds, knowing when to offer humour and making long-distance relationships easier.


Maggi - “When did we stop giving time to the people who matter most?”
Maggi has introduced ‘The Togetherness Table’, a social experiment designed to highlight the emotional distance that can develop between people who share the same home. Bringing together parents and children, couples and siblings, the initiative uses a specially designed interactive table that visually reflects how well participants know one another. As they answer questions ranging from everyday details to more personal aspects of their relationships, the table responds in real time, making gaps in their understanding visible.


Candyman - “Tangy Tantrik's New Plan”
Candyman has unveiled a Halloween campaign that reimagines the Bollywood psychological thriller Darr as a playful reason to bring people together. Drawing on the film’s iconic obsessive-love narrative, the campaign uses familiar horror tropes and references to create a humorous take on the idea of being scared, encouraging friends and families to gather over sweets and treats.


Samsung - “The Festive Season Is Best Celebrated Together”
Samsung India has unveiled a new festive campaign for its flagship Micro RGB TV, conceptualised by Cheil India, celebrating the spirit of family and togetherness. The film follows a little girl struggling to find her place in her family’s festive preparations, who eventually brings everyone together through a shared viewing experience. The narrative uses the family’s interactions to position the television as more than an entertainment device, making it the centre of a shared festive moment.


Mentos - “Kya Saans Khuli, Kya Hawa Chali”
Mentos, from Perfetti Van Melle, has launched a new TVC for its recently introduced Mentos Fresh Action Candy, built around the tagline ‘Kya saans khuli, kya hawa chali’. Set inside a flour mill, the film follows an owner who finds himself covered in flour just before attending a wedding. With no time to change, he turns to a boy working at the mill, who offers him a Mentos Fresh Action candy. The intense cooling freshness triggers a powerful gust of air that blows the flour off the owner, revealing his perfectly pressed sherwani underneath, while the flour lands on his wife standing behind him.

Tesla - “Halloween Mode”
Tesla has introduced ‘Halloween Mode’ for its Model Y and Model Y L electric SUVs through an over-the-air software update, turning the vehicles into Halloween-themed attractions. The update features a ghost-themed car avatar, spooky sound effects, flickering lights, seasonal vehicle wraps and a dedicated Halloween light show. It also introduces a ‘Trick or Treat’ mode that activates sound and lighting effects when visitors approach the vehicle, alongside a Photobooth feature for capturing themed pictures and ‘Voice From Beyond’, which allows owners to send voice messages through the Tesla app that play out through the car.