Ad Campaigns
Brooke Bond’s new campaign features differently abled teens
MUMBAI: The ignorant often refer to people with special needs as ‘paagal’ or ‘mad’. Y-Films, the youth films wing of Yash Raj Films has launched the second single of India’s first ‘Isspeshal Band’, the Brooke Bond Red Label 6-Pack Band 2.0 titled, ‘Dil Toh Paagal Hai’.
The song flips that on its head by telling people that if not discriminating between people or listening to your heart is at times considered crazy, then we all need to celebrate that madness. Because the heart, after all, is crazy. The band is an exciting new music collective of six differently abled teens with special needs but incredible music skills and passion. Conceived and produced by Ashish Patil, the project is curated by Shameer Tandon. The new version is a collaboration with ace singer-composer-song writer-rockstar Vishal Dadlani.
The iconic track from Yash Chopra’s cult classic film featuring Shahrukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit and Akshay Kumar has been recreated by Shameer with additional lyrics by Kumaar. The new music video directed by Adil Shaikh features around 100 students, teachers, counsellors, therapists and staff of The Gateway School of Mumbai, a special needs school celebrating life and accepting each and everyone as they are.
Hindustan Unilever general manager for Brooke Bond Red Label Shiva Krishnamurthy says, “It is wonderful to get Brooke Bond Red Label 6 Pack Band 2.0 into the next gear with an iconic chartbuster song like DTPH. The celebratory spirit of this song resonates with the way Brooke Bond Red Label approaches its purpose of urging people to break barriers, shed their prejudices and make the world a more welcoming place.”
Mindshare India President of client leadership Amin Lakhani adds, “The new song in the journey of 6 Pack is a fabulous take on the iconic Dil Toh Pagal Hai. In its new avatar it delivers a telling story of how society labels people with special needs as abnormal and questions that If living in the moment or living life without inhibitions is Pagalpan then so be it – because that’s the way to live. A brilliant rendition of a song that is a legend, now delivers a call for acceptance and non-judgement and there s no one better than a Vishal Dadlani – an absolute energy powerhouse who could do such an astounding job at this song. I’m sure this song will melt hearts and make people have a relook at their own considerations of special needs people.”
Y-Films head Ashish Patil mentions, “The special needs community has always been all heart. And the heart doesn’t differentiate between caste, colour, gender, ability or disability. That’s one thing we all need to learn to truly make this world a more ‘isspeshal’ place. We are honoured and thrilled beyond bits to present this thumping new version of Yashji’s cult classic to spread this important message.”
According to World Health Organisation’s estimates, 20 per cent of the world requires some form of medical intervention for a mental health issue. But 80 per cent cases go unreported due to the stigma attached. This entire campaign hopes to build greater awareness, understanding and acceptance about mental health and disability and, of course, create some kickass music along the way, that will hopefully drive everyone’s dil paagal!
NATIONAL: Amazon Ads has laid out a sharply tech-led vision for the advertising industry in 2026, arguing that artificial intelligence, streaming TV and creator partnerships will combine to turn brand building into a more precise, performance-driven business.
At the heart of the shift, the company says, is the fusion of AI with Amazon’s vast trove of shopping, browsing and streaming signals, allowing advertisers to move beyond blunt reach metrics to campaigns designed around real customer behaviour.
“The future of advertising is not about reaching more people, but the right people with messages that resonate,” said Amazon Ads India head and vice president Girish Prabhu. “By combining AI with deep customer insights, we help brands move from broadcasting campaigns to having meaningful conversations wherever audiences spend their time.”
One of the biggest changes, according to Amazon Ads, will be the collapse of the wall between media planning and creative development. Retail media, powered by first-party data, is increasingly shaping everything from brand discovery to final purchase, pushing marketers to design campaigns around audience insight rather than internal instinct.
AI is also moving from a support tool to a creative engine. Agentic AI, which automates and accelerates production, is expected to make high-quality creative accessible even to small businesses, compressing weeks of work into hours and giving challengers the ability to compete with larger brands on speed and scale.
Behind the scenes, AI-driven analytics will take on a bigger role in campaign optimisation, identifying patterns, spotting opportunities and recommending actions that would previously have required teams of analysts.
Streaming TV is another big battleground. With India’s video streaming audience now above 600 million and connected TV users at 129.2 million in 2025, advertisers are set to treat streaming not just as a branding channel but as a performance engine, measured increasingly by sales, sign-ups and bookings rather than just reach.
Finally, Amazon Ads sees creators and contextual advertising reshaping how brands tell stories. Creators will act less like influencers and more like long-term partners, while scene-aware ads on streaming platforms will allow brands to insert hyper-relevant offers into the flow of what viewers are watching.
Taken together, Amazon Ads argues, these shifts mark a move towards advertising that is both more human and more measurable, where AI handles the complexity, and creativity does the persuading.
