Brands
Uber flips the script with Gambhir and Ashwin in playful new campaign
MUMBAI: When Gautam Gambhir smiles in an ad, you know the commute must be smooth. Uber India has rolled out a fresh campaign featuring cricket stalwarts Gautam Gambhir and Ravichandran Ashwin, casting them not in their usual serious avatars but in refreshingly playful moods as they zip around in Uber rides.
The series of films, peppered with social-first content, shows how Uber Auto, Bike and Car rides can turn India’s daily grind of traffic snarls, heat and hassle into journeys that are reliable, affordable and surprisingly uplifting.
“We wanted to bring a fresh, fun lens to Uber’s role in removing everyday travel struggles. With the unexpected duo of Gambhir and Ashwin, we’ve created a light-hearted take on how Uber makes rides not just reliable and affordable, but also mood uplifting. Our aim is to be the go-to brand for young Indian aspirers, one that connects function with feeling and nudges even non-users to try Uber for the first time,” said Uber head of marketing for India and South Asia Ameya Velankar.
The campaign takes a culture-first approach, rolling out in multiple regional languages and markets, tapping into local humour, pop culture cues and everyday commuting insights. The wide rollout spans TV, digital, social platforms, and outdoor, ensuring Uber’s message is seen and felt across urban India.
Uber today operates across two-, three- and four-wheelers, along with buses and mass transit options, giving millions of Indians flexibility to pick rides that suit their budget, need and time. From the quick bike dash to beat gridlock, to a trusty auto or a comfortable car trip, Uber has woven itself into India’s urban fabric.
With creative duties handled by FCB India and media by Essence Mediacomm, the campaign underscores Uber’s positioning as more than just a ride, it’s a mood-changer. By making cricket’s most no-nonsense players break into grins, Uber hopes to convince even the most commute-weary Indian that travel can be a happy ride after all.
Brands
UK’s OnlyFans seeks US investor at $3bn valuation after owner’s death
The adult video platform is seeking stability after the death of its billionaire owner
LONDON: OnlyFans is looking for a new partner. The London-based adult video platform is in advanced talks to sell a minority stake of less than 20 per cent to Architect Capital, a San Francisco-based investment firm, in a deal that would value the business at more than $3bn (£2.2bn).
The move is driven by an urgent need for stability. Leonid Radvinsky, the Ukrainian-American billionaire who owned OnlyFans, died of cancer last month at the age of 43, leaving the future of one of Britain’s most profitable privately held businesses suddenly uncertain.
The choice of Architect Capital is not arbitrary. The firm has deep expertise in financial services, which aligns neatly with OnlyFans’ ambitions to offer banking products to its creators, many of whom have long struggled to access basic financial services because of the nature of their work.
The numbers behind OnlyFans are, by any measure, staggering. The platform posted revenues of $1.4bn in the year to 30th November 2024, with a pre-tax profit of $684m, up four per cent on the prior year. Payments to creators totalled $7.2bn over the same period, a rise of nearly ten per cent. Radvinsky personally collected $701m in dividends from the business in 2024 alone, on top of more than $1bn in such payments he had already received. The platform, run through its parent company Felix International, hosts 4.6m creator accounts, with performers keeping 80 per cent of subscription proceeds and the platform pocketing the remaining 20 per cent. It has 377m fan accounts in total.
The current minority stake talks represent a notable scaling back of ambitions. In January, OnlyFans was reported to be in discussions with Architect about selling a majority stake of 60 per cent. Before that, the company had explored a sale to a consortium led by Forest Road Company, a Los Angeles-based investment firm. Neither deal materialised.
OnlyFans has built an enormously lucrative business on content that mainstream finance has long refused to touch. Now, with its owner gone and a $3bn valuation on the table, it is looking for the kind of respectable institutional backing that might finally persuade the banks to take its calls.
