MAM
Brand ‘Gone Mad’ – Kids stories to commercials
BENGALURU: Karishma Lintas has conceptualised the first ever TV commercial for ‘Gone Mad Choco Sticks‘ from Garuda Foods with a new approach to fun foods. Created especially for kids (7-12 years old), Gone Mad Choco Sticks has been launched in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in the first phase.
The commercial explores the madness in all its endearing expressions as a deep human motivation, the philosophy that drives the brand Gone Mad – it denies order and says ‘break the normal‘. The TVC takes viewers on Murali‘s journey through friendship, love and endearing madness. Murali, the lucky kid, was hand-picked from one of the schools in Bangalore, while Gone Mad was exploring kids‘ creativity to create doodles to be used for packaging and outdoor advertising.
Garuda Foods executive director G V Krishnan said, “We knew we had to be different, as different as the product and not just for the sake of being different. It‘s not just about the output, we wanted to have a completely different way of going about it. We stared right from naming it Gone Mad! It‘s easy to be mad, but what we were looking for is ‘how can we be mad and yet be loved by kids and mothers alike‘. That‘s a trick only kids know, and so we decided to leave it all to them.”
The packaging was designed with doodles by kids. Karishma Lintas creative director Rajesh Ramaswamy elaborated, “We wanted something original that could only belong to Gone Mad. So we went to over 200 kids across all sections of society, and asked them to draw whatever made them happy. That became our raw material for every form of communication – packaging, print, outdoor, and in-shop.”
The agency then decided to go back to the kids for stories that can be made into television commercials. “And now we have some really imaginative stories that we could never ever have thought of! It‘s funny that we do nothing on this brand and let the kids do all the work. And make sure that we keep it as raw as possible, without colouring and killing it with logic,” commented Ramaswamy.
The TVC went on air on 17 March. It was produced by the production house Eeksaurus Productions and directed by E Suresh.
Brands
Trump announces $300bn Texas oil refinery with Reliance, calls it the biggest in US history
First new US refinery in 50 years planned at Brownsville port with Reliance
WASHINGTON: The United States may soon see the first brand-new oil refinery built on its soil in half a century.
Donald Trump announced a proposed $300 billion refinery project in Texas, calling it a landmark moment for American energy production and jobs.
Posting on Truth Social on 10 March, Trump said the facility would be built at the Port of Brownsville and developed by a company called America First Refining, with major investment from India’s Reliance Industries.
The announcement frames the project as a centrepiece of the administration’s push for “energy dominance”, with Trump claiming it would deliver thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in economic activity to South Texas.
If realised, the plant would mark the first all-new major refinery constructed in the United States since the 1970s. In recent decades, oil companies have largely chosen to expand existing facilities rather than build new ones, citing high costs, regulatory hurdles and environmental scrutiny.
Trump described the proposed investment as the “biggest in US history”, positioning it as proof that policy changes such as streamlined permits and lower taxes are drawing large-scale energy investments back into the country.
The refinery is planned for the Port of Brownsville, a strategic Gulf Coast location that provides easy access to shipping routes and export markets.
A key partner in the project is Reliance Industries, controlled by billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani. The company already runs the world’s largest refining complex in Jamnagar, India, making it one of the most experienced operators in large-scale petroleum processing.
The Texas venture would mark a significant step for the group into America’s domestic refining sector, potentially strengthening industrial ties between the US and India.
The proposed refinery is being promoted as a next-generation facility capable of processing American shale oil while maintaining high environmental standards. Trump said it would be “the cleanest refinery in the world”, although the specific technologies behind that claim have not yet been detailed.
Industry observers also note that the $300 billion figure is unusually large for a refinery project, and analysts are waiting for more clarity on whether the number reflects total construction costs, long-term infrastructure investment, or broader economic impact estimates.
As of 11 March, Reliance Industries had not publicly confirmed the investment size or the structure of its involvement.
For now, the announcement has sparked equal parts excitement and curiosity in energy markets. If the plan moves from promise to pouring concrete, the refinery could reshape the Gulf Coast energy landscape, and reopen a chapter in American refining that has been quiet for nearly fifty years.
