Piyush Pandey: The coolest one

Piyush Pandey was one of those rare people whose laughter you could hear before you saw him, and whose warmth lingered long after he’d left the room. He passed away this morning, and with him goes a voice that changed the sound, soul, and spirit of Indian advertising forever.

I had only a nodding acquaintance with Piyush at St Stephen’s College. He was two years senior to me — and already campus royalty, a member of the revered college cricket team. Even then, Piyush was famous for his easy charm and infectious joie de vivre. You couldn’t miss him — not just because he was good at everything, but because he made you feel good to be around him.

I began hearing his name again years later, when I was handling the Lever’s detergent portfolio at Lintas. Piyush was then in client servicing at Ogilvy & Mather, and soon after, I heard that he had switched to creative — a bold move that led to the iconic “Chal mere Luna” campaign. There was no looking back after that.

From the mid-1990s onwards, I had the privilege of working closely with him for nearly fifteen years. Our first collaboration was on Four Square when I was at Godfrey Phillips. O&M was the agency, and Piyush’s team created the wonderful “Boat Race” campaign featuring Venkatesh Prasad, Sanjay Manjrekar, and Nayan Mongia. It was a perfect blend of sophistication, warmth, and Indian spirit — all hallmarks of Piyush’s creative DNA.

When I moved to Electrolux, bringing O&M on board for our flagship refrigerator brand — Kelvinator — was a no-brainer. Our sales team wanted a counter to Whirlpool’s catchy “Ice Ice Baby”. Piyush, along with his Delhi creative head Prasoon Joshi, responded with a campaign that was pure genius: “It’s the Coolest One.” The “Teeth Chattering,” “Threading the Needle,” and “Singer” ads became legendary. I still remember being sceptical — the team was clamouring for a jingle — but Piyush and Prasoon ignored my nervousness with their characteristic calm disdain. Thank goodness they did. The result was a campaign that’s still remembered today. Later, he created the delightful Kelvinator ads with Rahul Dravid — timeless in their simplicity and warmth.

Our next major partnership came at HT Media, when O&M was chosen to handle the Hindustan Times brand. They produced a classy re-launch in 2003, but the real test came in 2005, when we were preparing to launch in Mumbai — the fortress of The Times of India. Piyush came up with the “Let There Be Light” campaign. The TVC was originally in English, but he instinctively knew it lacked punch. So, in true Piyush style, he turned it into Hindi — “Fuse hain sab ke lattu.” Imagine that: running a Hindi TVC for an English newspaper! Only Piyush could have done that — and made it work.

Over the past few years, as life took me in different directions, my interactions with Piyush grew infrequent. Yet every time we met or spoke, that booming laugh, that warmth, and that sparkle in his eyes were exactly as I remembered.

Piyush Pandey didn’t just make great ads — he made Indian advertising truly Indian. He stripped away its colonial polish and replaced it with earth, dust, laughter, and heart. His campaigns spoke the language people actually spoke; they mirrored our quirks, celebrated our optimism, and touched our emotions. Under his leadership, O&M became the most creative agency in the country — and a nursery of talent. Many of his protégés are now leaders of the industry, carrying forward his legacy of authenticity and courage.

For me personally, the years I spent working with him were among the most memorable of my professional life. Piyush was a delight to work with — funny, humble, and refreshingly grounded. At Godfrey Phillips, he would shun the five-star lunch to grab chole bhature at Nathu’s in Friends Colony. That was Piyush Pandey — the coolest one.

He leaves behind not just unforgettable campaigns, but a philosophy of creativity — that the truest stories are told in our own voice, in our own idiom. Indian advertising will never be quite the same again, but it will always bear his unmistakable imprint.

Rest easy, Piyush. You made India smile — and think.