Will copywriters now write for TV and films too?

For decades, the copywriter’s craft was defined by brevity. A sharp headline, a catchy jingle, a 30-second script so the work lived in short bursts of attention. But the rules are shifting. With AI-generated ads proliferating and in-show placements becoming a billion-dollar global industry, the ad writer’s canvas is suddenly stretching across episodes, characters, and worlds.

The question now is whether copywriters are destined to evolve into screenwriters of branded entertainment.

“If you look at today, the entire world is moved towards content rather than creative. The entire social media is about content. We love ads which are about content related,” says Shradha Agarwal, Co-Founder & CEO of Grapes. “A copywriter has to move its role from just being two-liner writers to a long-format story content. And as soon as that happens, they will start using ChatGPT.”

Not everyone agrees that the copywriter’s future is exclusively long-form. Nisheeth Srivastava, Senior Executive Creative Director, BBH India, believes the essence of copywriting lies in the short, idea-driven format.

AI in ads

“The quintessential difference between a machine and a human is that a machine generates while a human creates. Copywriters are ideators first and then anything else. Scarcity of duration, space and everything else is their breeding ground. Ads lead from ideas and the short-form advertising will continue to thrive on it.”

This tension between brevity and narrative is shaping how agencies think about talent: writers who can still deliver the punch of a slogan, but who are equally capable of writing dialogue that feels authentic inside a show or series.

AI fluency

For Sudish Balan, Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer, Tonic Worldwide, the shift is already visible.

“We’re not killing the 30-second spot, but the game’s changing fast. Agencies are hunting for writers who can think bigger than just ads. The old school copywriters who only know how to write taglines? They’re struggling. New writers are building stories that live everywhere from Reels to streaming series.”

That requires collaboration with show creators. “Audiences hate obvious product placement. The secret is making brands feel like they belong in that world. Your writer needs to actually understand the characters, work with the show creators, and think like a storyteller first. Force it and viewers will call you out instantly.”

Marketers and AI

Srivastava agrees that integration must flow naturally. “While developing the in-show integration one needs to play to the strength of the show and its core audience. In an existing show narrative a non-intrusive integration will make the brand shine, while when a show needs to be built from scratch, the ethos of the brand becomes the core. The characters are chosen accordingly.”

Agarwal stresses subtlety: “The best way to integrate brand messaging into a TV show or a movie without disrupting the audience is usage of the product as a category, not as a brand… You don’t even need to highlight it because we all know subtly… I automatically believe that you believed in that brand and you enjoyed that experience.”

She gives a cautionary example: “If there is a food scene and somebody is cooking and they say that you know what, my customers would prefer only premium rice and hence I am using Dawat, makes sense. But imagine all of a sudden you showcase a medium-class family using a premium Forest Essentials product, then you will be like, it doesn’t seem true.”

Balan points to Indian OTT successes that managed this balance:

“Scam 1992 made financial services feel natural to Harshad’s story. Mumbai Diaries 26/11 showed real medical brands because that’s what hospitals actually use. The trick is making brand choices that fit the character perfectly. Stop thinking like an advertiser, start thinking like a screenwriter.”

AI is the accelerant and the disruptor. McKinsey’s 2025 State of AI survey confirms marketing and sales as among the fastest adopters, with AI already used for copywriting, content generation, and campaign testing.

For Agarwal, AI is a tool, not the answer. “We use AI so extensively today to do copies, writing taglines, writing manifestos, writing scripts, creating storyboards. But we understand the pop culture reference, we understand the USP, we understand the reason to believe. Now… every time after the prompt is given, the changes and the revisions must keep in mind all the nuance, emotion, cultural understanding and pop culture reference.”

Balan adds: “AI spots patterns and follows templates. But why does that character choose Kingfisher over Budweiser? What does their phone brand say about their personality? Those choices come from understanding people, culture, and subtext. AI handles the logistics… we handle the soul.”

AI in creative advertising

Srivastava positions it as a partnership, “It is going to be a world where AI is going to be used extensively for manifestation and challenging our own visualization boundaries. Culture is what we imbibe, create. It is probably the pinnacle of human behaviour. Culture is felt and not coded. This is not going to go away.”

As brand storytelling embeds deeper into entertainment, ethical lines blur. Agarwal warns:

“If you are putting false statements which are not right to the product, then they are ethically incorrect whether it is TV or whether it is an ad.”

Balan cautions against manipulation, “There’s a fine line between smart integration and straight up manipulation. Regulations are still catching up with creative reality. Good writers find ways to be transparent without ruining the story. Push too far into stealth territory, and audiences will never trust your content again.”

Srivastava echoes the need for responsibility, noting that brand ethos must be matched with narrative truth to avoid audience backlash.

Product placement is not a futuristic scenario; it’s a booming economy. Analysts value the global market at tens of billions of dollars annually, growing steadily as brands chase uncluttered, non-skippable audience attention. Netflix is expected to expand its ad-supported formats and AI-powered placements by 2026, further blurring the line between spot and storyline.

So, will copywriters become screenwriters? The truth lies somewhere in the middle. Short-form creativity isn’t going away, but long-form integrations are clearly on the rise.

As Agarwal frames it, writers must be fluent in nuance, pop culture, and human emotion. As Balan stresses, they must learn to think like storytellers. And as Srivastava reminds, copywriters are still ideators first, thriving under constraint but adapting to new canvases.