IPL Ads: Campaigns that have ruled the game
From the endearing Zoozoos to Dravid losing his cool for Cred, we look at some of the memorable ad spots that have been synonymous with the IPL frenzy
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Published: Mar 28, 2026 9:56 AM | 6 min read
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The Indian Premier League did not just reshape how cricket was played and packaged; it rewired how brands spoke to India. When the tournament launched in 2008, it offered something advertisers had never quite encountered before: a sporting property with the cultural voltage of Bollywood, the reach of a national election, and the frenetic, second-by-second attention of a generation raised on fast entertainment. Brands took note almost immediately, and the ads that followed were rarely content to simply interrupt the broadcast. The best of them became part of it.
What emerged over the seasons was a distinct grammar of IPL advertising: loud, emotionally direct, occasionally absurdist, and always fluent in the idioms of the sport. Some campaigns leaned into spectacle, borrowing the production values of film. Others found their power in brevity, a single phrase sharp enough to cut through an evening of sixes and wickets. A few did something rarer still: they understood that IPL crowds were not passive audiences but active participants, and they wrote ads that felt like they belonged in the stands as much as on the screen.
The nine campaigns gathered here span network broadcasters and fantasy gaming apps, packaged water brands (although surrogate) and telecom giants, streaming platforms and cola labels. What they share is a specific kind of success: the ability to lodge themselves in the viewer's memory well beyond the final over. Some introduced jingles that became vernacular. Some introduced cultural shorthand that outlasted the campaigns themselves. Taken together, they tell the story of how IPL advertising grew into a genre of its own.
Vodafone - “Cricket Alert”
Launched on the opening day of IPL Season 2, Vodafone committed to releasing one new ZooZoo advertisement per match day, a strategy that turned the campaign into a daily event in its own right. The "Cricket Alert" ad featured the brand's now-iconic balloon-bodied characters in a slapstick scenario built around the chaos of missing live match updates. The ad expertly blended humour, exaggerated slapstick comedy, and IPL excitement, transforming a straightforward mobile service pitch into an engaging moment that viewers actually looked forward to. It remains one of the most nostalgic chapters in IPL advertising.
https://youtu.be/N7RieJeXmyE?
Kingfisher - “Oo La La La La Le O”
In 1996, Kingfisher introduced the jingle "Oo La La La Le O," which coincided with the brand's sponsorship of the West Indies cricket team, and it has since become synonymous with the brand's "King of Good Times" identity. The IPL gave the jingle a new home. Cricketers from different IPL teams were captured on buses, in hotel rooms, in training sessions, and even in dressing rooms, all humming and grooving to the same tune, united, as the tagline put it, by Kingfisher. The campaign's consistency across seasons is itself a feat of brand discipline rarely seen in Indian advertising.
https://youtu.be/2d3aYiIiWZY?
Star Sports - “Sirf Dekhneka Nahi!”
Created by J. Walter Thompson India for Sony MAX as part of the IPL 2013 campaign, the film was conceptualised by JWT and brought to life by Farah Khan, who directed and choreographed it with her signature flair, while Vishal and Shekhar's music drove the film entirely. The film opens on a man in the quiet monotony of an ordinary day, until Farah Khan barges in, flanked by two band members, asking "Chauka laga toh?" and triggering a chain reaction of involuntary dancing across the country. The jingle "Dil jumping japang jampak jampak" became as much a part of the IPL season as the cricket itself.
https://youtu.be/8eXgZLo9QXE
CRED - “Great for the good”
The 23-second film features actor Jim Sarbh and an unexpected version of Rahul Dravid (known for his composure) losing his cool entirely while stuck in Bangalore traffic. Co-written by Tanmay Bhat and Vishal Dayama and directed by Ayappa CM, the campaign worked because it treated celebrity not as endorsement but as subversion. "Indiranagar ka Gunda" became one of the most quoted phrases of that IPL season.
https://youtu.be/j8KpV-4_mRg?
Disney+ Hotstar - “India Ki Vibe Alag Hai”
Produced by electronic musician Nucleya, the multilingual anthem featured eight rappers (each representing their IPL team city) and incorporated the flavour of eight Indian languages into a single track. Conceived by Supari Studios, the campaign was designed to build brand affinity for the streaming platform that would sustain during and after the IPL season, not just drive sign-ups. Each city got its own dance step tied to a signature player moment, from Shikhar Dhawan's Gabru step to Andre Russell's arm thrust. It was one of the more ambitious pieces of cultural production to emerge from an IPL campaign.
https://youtu.be/kx6dcS5RuTI?
Pepsi - “Oh Yes Abhi!”
The IPL-specific film under the "Oh Yes Abhi!" umbrella, conceptualised by Taproot India with Agnello Dias as Chief Creative Officer, featured Ranbir Kapoor in a dramatically different avatar: a common man with dental braces, a thick moustache, and a tiffin box. The film captured the irreverent, fan-first spirit of IPL more sharply than most campaigns of its era.
https://youtu.be/3SHkTkahkmg
Dream11 - “Aapki Team Mein Kaun?”
The campaign featured Aamir Khan and Ranbir Kapoor going head-to-head as they assembled rival fantasy squads (Aamir11 and Ranbir11), pulling in cricketers including Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, and R. Ashwin into their banter-filled showdown. Directed by Nitesh Tiwari and conceptualised by Tilt Brand Solutions and ZeroFifty, the campaign was estimated to have a total budget of over ₹80 crore, including production costs, celebrity fees, and media amplification.
https://youtu.be/voALGUnxdPQ?
My11Circle - “Aaja Mere Circle Mein Aaja”
Conceptualised by filmmaker Vasan Bala and brought to life by creative agency The Script Room, each of the six films presented a surreal moment where a player was unexpectedly transported into a fan's fantasy team. The campaign's sonic identity leaned on nostalgia: a reimagined version of Anu Malik's beloved 90s track "Aaja Meri Gaadi Mein Baith Jaa" was freshly recorded by the composer himself as "Aaja Mere Circle Mein Aaja," giving the campaign an instantly familiar hook. With Sourav Ganguly, Shubman Gill, and a roster of international players, it struck a balance between cricketing credibility and pop culture playfulness.
https://youtu.be/ckCTQ065FsA?
Set Max - “Manoranjan Ka Baap”
The 75-second commercial narrated the tale of a mother and her twin sons named Mano and Ranjan, constantly taunted by their village with the question "Kab aayega tumhara baap?" building to a climactic announcement: "Aa gaya, Manoranjan ka Baap. DLF Indian Premier League. Sirf MAX par." Conceptualised by TBWA India and directed by Rajesh Krishnan, the campaign was deliberately positioned to compete with all sources of entertainment, not just sport; a strategic choice that reflected the fact that the host broadcaster was a Hindi movie channel, not a sports channel. It set the tone for how IPL would be sold to India for years to come.
https://youtu.be/AHByZLDbPiw
What emerged over the seasons was a distinct grammar of IPL advertising: loud, emotionally direct, occasionally absurdist, and always fluent in the idioms of the sport. Some campaigns leaned into spectacle, borrowing the production values of film. Others found their power in brevity, a single phrase sharp enough to cut through an evening of sixes and wickets. A few did something rarer still: they understood that IPL crowds were not passive audiences but active participants, and they wrote ads that felt like they belonged in the stands as much as on the screen.
The nine campaigns gathered here span network broadcasters and fantasy gaming apps, packaged water brands (although surrogate) and telecom giants, streaming platforms and cola labels. What they share is a specific kind of success: the ability to lodge themselves in the viewer's memory well beyond the final over. Some introduced jingles that became vernacular. Some introduced cultural shorthand that outlasted the campaigns themselves. Taken together, they tell the story of how IPL advertising grew into a genre of its own.
Vodafone - “Cricket Alert”
Launched on the opening day of IPL Season 2, Vodafone committed to releasing one new ZooZoo advertisement per match day, a strategy that turned the campaign into a daily event in its own right. The "Cricket Alert" ad featured the brand's now-iconic balloon-bodied characters in a slapstick scenario built around the chaos of missing live match updates. The ad expertly blended humour, exaggerated slapstick comedy, and IPL excitement, transforming a straightforward mobile service pitch into an engaging moment that viewers actually looked forward to. It remains one of the most nostalgic chapters in IPL advertising.
https://youtu.be/N7RieJeXmyE?
Kingfisher - “Oo La La La La Le O”
In 1996, Kingfisher introduced the jingle "Oo La La La Le O," which coincided with the brand's sponsorship of the West Indies cricket team, and it has since become synonymous with the brand's "King of Good Times" identity. The IPL gave the jingle a new home. Cricketers from different IPL teams were captured on buses, in hotel rooms, in training sessions, and even in dressing rooms, all humming and grooving to the same tune, united, as the tagline put it, by Kingfisher. The campaign's consistency across seasons is itself a feat of brand discipline rarely seen in Indian advertising.
https://youtu.be/2d3aYiIiWZY?
Star Sports - “Sirf Dekhneka Nahi!”
Created by J. Walter Thompson India for Sony MAX as part of the IPL 2013 campaign, the film was conceptualised by JWT and brought to life by Farah Khan, who directed and choreographed it with her signature flair, while Vishal and Shekhar's music drove the film entirely. The film opens on a man in the quiet monotony of an ordinary day, until Farah Khan barges in, flanked by two band members, asking "Chauka laga toh?" and triggering a chain reaction of involuntary dancing across the country. The jingle "Dil jumping japang jampak jampak" became as much a part of the IPL season as the cricket itself.
https://youtu.be/8eXgZLo9QXE
CRED - “Great for the good”
The 23-second film features actor Jim Sarbh and an unexpected version of Rahul Dravid (known for his composure) losing his cool entirely while stuck in Bangalore traffic. Co-written by Tanmay Bhat and Vishal Dayama and directed by Ayappa CM, the campaign worked because it treated celebrity not as endorsement but as subversion. "Indiranagar ka Gunda" became one of the most quoted phrases of that IPL season.
https://youtu.be/j8KpV-4_mRg?
Disney+ Hotstar - “India Ki Vibe Alag Hai”
Produced by electronic musician Nucleya, the multilingual anthem featured eight rappers (each representing their IPL team city) and incorporated the flavour of eight Indian languages into a single track. Conceived by Supari Studios, the campaign was designed to build brand affinity for the streaming platform that would sustain during and after the IPL season, not just drive sign-ups. Each city got its own dance step tied to a signature player moment, from Shikhar Dhawan's Gabru step to Andre Russell's arm thrust. It was one of the more ambitious pieces of cultural production to emerge from an IPL campaign.
https://youtu.be/kx6dcS5RuTI?
Pepsi - “Oh Yes Abhi!”
The IPL-specific film under the "Oh Yes Abhi!" umbrella, conceptualised by Taproot India with Agnello Dias as Chief Creative Officer, featured Ranbir Kapoor in a dramatically different avatar: a common man with dental braces, a thick moustache, and a tiffin box. The film captured the irreverent, fan-first spirit of IPL more sharply than most campaigns of its era.
https://youtu.be/3SHkTkahkmg
Dream11 - “Aapki Team Mein Kaun?”
The campaign featured Aamir Khan and Ranbir Kapoor going head-to-head as they assembled rival fantasy squads (Aamir11 and Ranbir11), pulling in cricketers including Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, and R. Ashwin into their banter-filled showdown. Directed by Nitesh Tiwari and conceptualised by Tilt Brand Solutions and ZeroFifty, the campaign was estimated to have a total budget of over ₹80 crore, including production costs, celebrity fees, and media amplification.
https://youtu.be/voALGUnxdPQ?
My11Circle - “Aaja Mere Circle Mein Aaja”
Conceptualised by filmmaker Vasan Bala and brought to life by creative agency The Script Room, each of the six films presented a surreal moment where a player was unexpectedly transported into a fan's fantasy team. The campaign's sonic identity leaned on nostalgia: a reimagined version of Anu Malik's beloved 90s track "Aaja Meri Gaadi Mein Baith Jaa" was freshly recorded by the composer himself as "Aaja Mere Circle Mein Aaja," giving the campaign an instantly familiar hook. With Sourav Ganguly, Shubman Gill, and a roster of international players, it struck a balance between cricketing credibility and pop culture playfulness.
https://youtu.be/ckCTQ065FsA?
Set Max - “Manoranjan Ka Baap”
The 75-second commercial narrated the tale of a mother and her twin sons named Mano and Ranjan, constantly taunted by their village with the question "Kab aayega tumhara baap?" building to a climactic announcement: "Aa gaya, Manoranjan ka Baap. DLF Indian Premier League. Sirf MAX par." Conceptualised by TBWA India and directed by Rajesh Krishnan, the campaign was deliberately positioned to compete with all sources of entertainment, not just sport; a strategic choice that reflected the fact that the host broadcaster was a Hindi movie channel, not a sports channel. It set the tone for how IPL would be sold to India for years to come.
https://youtu.be/AHByZLDbPiw
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