Digital
Cashkaro’s ‘GOATies’ Ad Butts Heads with Useless Coins in Roadies-Style Spoof
MUMBAI: It’s loud, it’s bold, and it’s got a goat gunning for glory, Cashkaro’s latest campaign film is baa-rilliantly bonkers. India’s leading cashback and coupons platform has just dropped the third instalment of its tongue-in-cheek #CoinsVSCashback campaign, and this one crashes into pop culture with horns blazing. Titled ‘GOATies’, the ad spoofs the cult-favourite reality show Roadies, swapping wannabe contestants for a coin-hoarding goat that’s out to prove it’s the “Greatest Of All Time” in savings. Spoiler alert: it’s not.
In a hilariously over-the-top audition setup, the goat struts in to face an unimpressed judge and is promptly schooled on the futility of hoarding reward coins you know, the ones that expire faster than leftovers and rarely offer real-world value. In trademark Roadies fashion, the goat’s dreams are roasted, and the message lands with a headbutt of clarity: real cashback is king the kind you can actually transfer to your bank account, courtesy of Cashkaro.
The punchline? “Change the habit of direct online shopping pehle Cashkaro, phir shop karo.”
This ad follows two earlier viral hits under the same campaign, one Ghibli-inspired and another laced with satire à la Latent all hammering home the same truth: coins voins are all bakwaas, real cashback is with Cashkaro.
Speaking about the campaign, Cashkaro and Earnkaro, co-founder Swati Bhargava said, “At CashKaro, we’re committed to making online shopping genuinely rewarding. Real cashback is money in your bank not coins that expire or come with conditions. With #CoinsVSCashback, we’re not just talking about the problem we’re parodying it, challenging it, and offering a better alternative. ‘GOATies’ is a fun but clear message: if it’s not real cashback, it’s not worth it.”
Cashkaro director of brand & creatives Ishan Agarwal added, “With GOATies, we wanted to tap into a format that’s instantly iconic and loaded with drama, just like the intense auditions of Roadies. The kind of pressure those moments created for participants we, as audiences, used to feel it too. That’s exactly the energy we wanted to recreate. Roadies is a show that has resonated with millennials, Gen Z, and even today’s younger audiences, making it the perfect creative playground for a satirical yet purposeful message. By spoofing a format so many people relate to, we’re able to connect with a wide audience and highlight the difference between flashy coin rewards and real cashback and use it to drive home a real truth about how online rewards are being diluted by gimmicks. This ad is satire with a purpose to educate users while entertaining them. As the third film in our #CoinsVSCashback campaign, it reinforces CashKaro’s identity as the true GOAT of Cashback.”
Created entirely in-house, the GOATies film is a clever cocktail of pop culture, parody, and purchase wisdom. And while the goat may not win the crown, CashKaro certainly takes the throne as the GOAT of cashback.
Digital
Ethical AI must benefit society, not dominate it, says WFEB chief Sanjay Pradhan at IAA event
At Mumbai event, ethics expert urges businesses and governments to shape AI responsibly
MUMBAI: Artificial intelligence may be racing ahead at lightning speed, but its direction must still be guided by human conscience. That was the central message delivered by Sanjay Pradhan, president of the World Forum for Ethics in Business (WFEB), during the latest edition of IAA Conversations held in Mumbai.
The session was organised by the International Advertising Association (IAA) and the Artificial Intelligence Association of India (AIAI) in association with The Free Press Journal at the Free Press House on 7 March. Addressing a packed audience, Pradhan called for stronger ethical leadership to ensure AI remains a tool that benefits humanity rather than one that governs it.
“Artificial intelligence has rapidly become one of the most powerful technologies humanity has created,” Pradhan said. “It is unlocking breakthroughs in medicine, science and creativity at a pace unimaginable just a few years ago.”
But he warned that the same technology carries serious risks. AI, he noted, can amplify disinformation faster than facts can travel, compromise privacy, deepen discrimination and disrupt millions of livelihoods. Referencing concerns raised by AI pioneers such as Geoffrey Hinton, often called the godfather of AI, Pradhan stressed that the real challenge is not whether AI will shape the world, but whether humans will shape it with ethics and wisdom.
Structuring his talk around four guiding questions, why, what, how and who, Pradhan introduced the audience to WFEB’s emerging AI Ethics Partnership, a global platform aimed at advancing responsible artificial intelligence. He outlined four priority concerns that demand urgent attention: disinformation, bias and discrimination, data privacy and job security.
To make the idea of ethical AI easier to grasp, Pradhan offered a simple metaphor. Ethical AI, he said, is like a three layered cake. The outer layer represents the visible value ethical AI creates for businesses and society. The middle layer is organisational culture that moves ethics from written codes to everyday practice. The innermost layer, however, is the most crucial, the conscience of individual leaders.
Drawing from Indian philosophical thought through WFEB co-founder Ravi Shankar, Pradhan noted that while artificial intelligence can reproduce stored knowledge, true intelligence is boundless and rooted in conscience, creativity and compassion. Practices such as breathwork and meditation, he suggested, can help leaders develop the calm clarity needed for ethical decision making.
The event also featured a discussion with Maninder Adityaraj Singh, chief of staff and head of innovation at Rediffusion Brand Solutions Pvt Ltd, and Yash Johri, lawyer, Supreme Court of India.
Opening the session, IAA India chapter president Abhishek Karnani, highlighted the need for industries to understand and engage with AI responsibly.
“AI has to be befriended and understood,” added Rediffusion managing director and AIAI national convenor Sandeep Goyal. “Its ethical use will determine whether it becomes a friend or a foe.”
As AI continues to reshape industries and societies, Pradhan ended with a simple but powerful call to action. Businesses, governments and individuals must work together to ensure that the algorithms shaping the future reflect human values rather than just cold logic.
