Brands
Casio turns back time as Vintage AQ-240 ticks with Gen Z attitude
The Never Just One campaign blends retro charm with modern mood for India’s youth.
MUMBAI: If time could shape-shift, it would probably wear a Casio. Casio India has rolled out a fresh campaign for its Vintage series, putting the spotlight on the AQ-240, a watch that leans into nostalgia while keeping pace with modern, ever-evolving identities. Part of Casio’s broader Future Classics line-up, the AQ-240 draws from the brand’s heritage while reinterpreting it for today’s sensibilities. The new campaign is anchored in a simple but telling idea: Never Just One. It mirrors a generation that refuses to be boxed into a single identity fluid in style, mood and self-expression much like the watch itself.
Vintage Casio watches have long enjoyed cult status, particularly among Gen Z and millennials. With this campaign, the brand doubles down on that connection, positioning the AQ-240 as a timepiece that adapts seamlessly to different roles and moments. Set against the pulse of contemporary urban culture, the campaign film captures how young consumers shift effortlessly between personas, styles and settings.
At the centre of the AQ-240 is its defining feature, a dual-display dial that fuses analogue hands with a digital screen. The sun-ray dial finish adds depth and clarity, while the distinctive TV-shaped digital window delivers a strong retro cue. Available in silver, blue and gold variants, the watch balances throwback aesthetics with everyday versatility.
“Through this product series and its campaign, we celebrate a generation that is dynamic, diverse and always redefining itself,” said Casio India managing director Takuto Kimura. “The AQ-240 embodies this same spirit merging analogue and digital, retro and modern while staying attuned to the cultural rhythm of modern India.”
The campaign has been brought to life by Homegrown and directed by Varsha Patra. Using abstract yet striking visuals, the film leans into the idea of duality not just in the watch’s design, but in the mindset of its audience. The result is a narrative that feels less like a product showcase and more like a reflection of how young India sees itself.
With Never Just One, Casio reinforces why its Vintage line continues to resonate decades on. In an era that values reinvention as much as authenticity, the AQ-240 positions itself as more than a watch, it’s a reminder that style, like time, doesn’t stand still.
Brands
Dunkin’ Donuts to exit India as Jubilant FoodWorks ends 15-year franchise deal
The quick service restaurant giant is ending a 15-year franchise partnership with the American doughnut chain, even as it renews its Domino’s agreement for another 15 years
NOIDA: Dunkin’ is done in India. Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd, the country’s leading quick service restaurant operator, has decided not to renew its franchise agreement with the American coffee and doughnut chain, and will wind down its Indian stores in a phased manner before December 31, 2026, bringing a 15-year partnership to a quiet, loss-laden close.
The decision, approved by JFL’s board on March 30, 2026, ends a relationship that began with a Multiple Unit Development Franchise Agreement signed on February 24, 2011. JFL will now evaluate and undertake what it described in a regulatory filing as the “rationalisation and/or cessation of certain operations and/or sale, transfer or disposal of assets and/or assignment or transfer of franchise rights,” all in consultation with Dunkin’s brand owners and strictly within the terms of the original agreement.
The numbers tell the story bluntly. In the financial year 2024-25, Dunkin’ India posted a revenue of Rs 37 crore against a loss of Rs 19 crore — a haemorrhage that was always going to test the patience of a parent company recording revenues of Rs 6,104 crore and a profit of Rs 194 crore in the same period. Doughnuts, it turns out, were never going to move the needle.
The contrast with JFL’s handling of its other marquee franchise could hardly be sharper. Even as it walks away from Dunkin’, the company has just doubled down on Domino’s, signing a fresh Master Franchise Agreement on March 31, 2026, granting it exclusive rights to develop and operate Domino’s Pizza stores in India for 15 years, with an option to renew for a further 10.
JFL, incorporated in 1995 and promoted by the Bharatia family, operates a network of more than 3,500 stores across six markets — India, Turkey, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Its portfolio includes Domino’s and Popeyes on the global side, and two home-grown brands: Hong’s Kitchen and COFFY, a café brand in Turkey.
For Dunkin’, India was always a stretch. The brand never quite cracked the cultural code in a market where filter coffee and chai command fierce loyalty and where the doughnut remains, at best, an occasional indulgence rather than a daily habit. Fifteen years, mounting losses and a parent with better things to spend its capital on was always going to be a difficult equation to solve.
The doughnut has had its last day. The pizza, however, is staying.
