MAM
From chocolates to toothpaste: Wavemaker’s Chintan Thakker switches lanes
MUMBAI: Chintan Thakker has traded sweet treats for dental care. The senior business director at Wavemaker India, who spent the past four years crafting campaigns for Mondelez’s snacking empire, is now leading the agency’s integrated marketing communications for Colgate.
The move caps a 14-year career that began in social media analysis and meandered through entrepreneurship before landing Thakker in his current role. His time with Mondelez proved particularly fruitful: the campaigns he orchestrated earned India its first Cannes Titanium Lion and racked up over 300 national and international awards in just two and a half years.
Thakker joined Wavemaker in May 2021 as director of innovation and integrated marketing communications, building a seven-person team and driving technology and content partnerships for Mondelez India. He was promoted to senior business director this month./
His earlier ventures were less gilded. In 2015, Thakker co-founded twentythree, a boutique digital agency that worked with Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and TLC. He also launched Odd Giraffe Lifestyle, a women’s brand that folded after seven months in 2017—a failure he credits with sharpening his strategic instincts.
Before striking out on his own, Thakker climbed the ranks at digital agencies Gozoop and EveryMedia Tech, managing social media for brands including Hyundai, PepsiCo and Bollywood studios. He started his career in 2011 as a video editor and reporter at Fuzion Productions.
The Colgate account marks fresh territory for Thakker, who has spent recent years immersed in the language of indulgence. Now he must master the vocabulary of oral hygiene.
Brands
KFC turns tea time into dunk time with Khushi and Orry
Dunked range campaign mixes gossip, friendship and extra sauce.
MUMBAI: When the tea is hot and the chicken is hotter, you know it is going to be a night in. KFC has unveiled a new campaign for its all-new Dunked range, enlisting Bollywood’s favourite BFF duo Khushi Kapoor and Orry for a reel that serves sass with a side of sauce.
The video plays out like a familiar Gen Z script. A party is ditched after Orry’s swollen face becomes the evening’s plot twist. Instead of flashing lights and crowded dance floors, the duo opts for a cosy night in. Khushi proposes a New Year resolution to simply stay home more often. Orry counters with a more ambitious goal shedding his “gossip aunty” reputation, a claim that earns him a sceptical look.
Naturally, restraint does not last long. Before Khushi can finish her sentence, Orry launches into animated storytelling mode. Celebrity break-ups, DM drama, influencers on diets, the tea flows freely, and so does the dunking. Between bites and banter, KFC’s Dunked range becomes the unofficial third wheel, anchoring the conversation in indulgence.
The campaign cleverly mirrors product and persona. Just as the Dunked range promises bold flavours and generous sauce, the reel leans into exaggerated expressions, playful tension and friendship dynamics that feel instantly shareable. The storytelling is fast, cheeky and built for scroll culture.
By tapping into pop-culture references and the easy chemistry between the two personalities, KFC positions its Dunked range as the perfect partner for laid-back evenings where gossip is plentiful, resolutions are flexible and the sauce is unapologetically extra.
The campaign is now live across KFC’s digital platforms, targeting younger audiences who see food not just as a meal, but as a mood.
Because sometimes, the best parties are the ones you skip, especially when the tea is this juicy.
