MAM
Admen in the US exploit toilets as advertising media
MUMBAI: The loo as an advertising medium? It has not been exploited in India apart from being used as a canvas for cheap erotic art or graffiti. Of course, public toilets in India, be it in airports or railway stations or bus depots are nothing but cesspools of excreta or urine scents. Hence, they don’t lend themselves for use as an advertising medium. However, there is money to be made if some organisation chooses to use loos for ads.
In the US, toilet advertising is growing rapidly. The Indoor Billboard Advertising Association disclosed last week that toilet advertising rose 14.3 per cent as 185,000 spaces carried ads for clients. Even large national advertisers like TNT and Perrier have climbed on to the commode wave and are running campaigns.
A specialised loo advertising agency has also cropped up called Flush Media. Its rationale for existence is the 15 minutes a day that individuals spend staring at loo stall doors when relieving themselves. The pioneer of this advertising genre is a company called Zoom Media.
The agencies have been making a hard pitch as loos offer great demographic segmented ad opportunities. Ladies washrooms can be used to plug products to women; gents to gents. Ladies washrooms in opera houses can be used to target high ticket items to classy women while cheaper products can be pushed through ladies loos in public places.
Additionally, loos ideally lend themselves to humorous opportunities. For example, a media buying agency can create an ad which says “Don’t let your ad bucks go to waste…come to *** Agency and we will add scents to your dollar….”
Are Indian companies listening?
MAM
Navi releases new ‘Hurrypur’ film focused on speed and simplicity
Auto breakdown turns F1-style pit stop in campaign film set to Baalti’s track
MUMBAI: When life’s in the fast lane, Navi wants even your breakdowns to be over in a blink. Navi has rolled out a new film under its ongoing ‘Hurrypur’ campaign, doubling down on its core pitch speed and simplicity in everyday transactions.
The film opens on a familiar hiccup, an autorickshaw breaking down mid-ride. But what follows is anything but ordinary. The repair unfolds like a Formula 1 pit stop swift, precise, almost cinematic. Within seconds, the tyre is replaced, the vehicle is back on the road, and even the fare negotiation wraps up in record time.
Set to US-based musical act Baalti’s track “123”, the film uses rhythm and pacing to mirror its central idea, in a world that moves fast, everything around it must keep up.
The narrative builds on Hurrypur, a fictional world where time is treated as currency and delay is almost obsolete. Through exaggerated yet relatable scenarios, the campaign reflects a broader behavioural shift consumers increasingly expect instant responses, whether from people, platforms or payments.
Navi Limited MD and CEO Rajiv Naresh said the Hurrypur universe is designed to highlight the company’s focus on delivering seamless, time-efficient experiences. Meanwhile, creative agency Sideways and director Ayappa KM leaned into humour and visual energy to push the story beyond a typical product-led narrative.
Instead of listing features, the campaign sticks to storytelling turning a routine inconvenience into a high-speed spectacle.
Because in Navi’s world, even a pit stop refuses to slow things down.
