MAM
DS Group to launch marketing campaign around mouth freshener
MUMBAI: DS Group has announced that it will launch a marketing campaign for herbal and natural mouth freshener Pass Pass Meetha Magic.
The new tagline of the product ‘totally natural total fun’ tries to reinforce the image of a fun brand in the consumer’s mindset and the campaign reinstates the same feel with fun and masti. A series of ads have been developed on topical issues, known celebrities and personalities, popularly known as ‘PASS PASS PANGA’.
Early this year, Pass Pass had launched its new variant Meetha Magic and promoted it with the help of TVCs using the comedy king, Shekhar Suman, as the brand ambassador. The idea was to capitalise on his persona of fun and happiness and appropriate the same for the brand. The commercials have revolved around Shekhar Suman pulling a fast one on India’s biggest stars (Big B) and India’s most popular politician (Laloo) and had created a new language code – the ‘Pass Pass Pangas’
DS Group president Ashok K. Aggarwal said, “Pass Pass, the premium offering of the DS Group is a pioneering innovation in the branded mouth freshener category. It has become a benchmark in the mouth freshener category and is a leader, much ahead of the competition. With the launch of Pass Pass Metha Magic the brand has established itself as a brand that inspires togetherness and stands for ‘masti and fun’.”
Continuing in the same vein Pass Pass is back with the new television commercials, once again with Shekhar Suman. The Indian comedy king is shown taking more ‘pangas’ on some celebrated Indian and ‘Phoren’ personalities. And in fact, in the new series, the comedy star has not even spared himself – he actually pokes fun at his own inability to resist the temptation of Pass Pass Meetha Magic!.
Leading advertising agency Dentsu has conceptualized and executed the campaign. The new television commercials will be a part of many initiatives being taken for the product. A host of below the line and ground level activities and consumer promotions and consumer contact programmes are being planned and will carry forward the concept of the mast duo- Shekhar Suman and Pass Pass.
MAM
Paramount set to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in $81 billion deal
Shareholders back merger, combined entity could reshape streaming and studios.
MUMBAI: Lights, camera… consolidation, Hollywood’s latest blockbuster might be happening off-screen. Shareholders of Warner Bros. Discovery have voted in favour of selling the company to Paramount in a deal valued at $81 billion rising to nearly $111 billion including debt setting the stage for one of the biggest shake-ups in modern media. The proposed merger, still subject to regulatory approvals, would bring together a vast portfolio spanning HBO Max, CNN, and franchises such as Harry Potter under the same umbrella as Paramount’s own heavyweights, including Top Gun and CBS.
At the heart of the deal is streaming scale. Executives have indicated plans to combine HBO Max and Paramount+ into a single platform, potentially creating a stronger challenger to giants like Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video. Current market data suggests HBO Max holds around 12 per cent of US on-demand subscriptions, compared to Paramount+’s 3 per cent, together still trailing Netflix’s 19 per cent and Disney’s combined 27 per cent via Disney+ and Hulu.
Paramount CEO David Ellison has signalled that while platforms may merge, HBO’s creative identity will remain intact, stating the brand should “stay HBO” even within a broader ecosystem.
Beyond streaming, the deal would redraw the map for film production. Combining two of Hollywood’s oldest studios Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros., the new entity aims to scale output to over 30 films annually, while maintaining a 45-day theatrical window. Warner Bros. currently commands around 21 per cent of the US box office, compared to Paramount’s 6 per cent, underscoring the strategic weight of the acquisition.
But scale comes with scrutiny. Critics warn that fewer players could mean reduced consumer choice, rising subscription costs, and potential job cuts as the combined company looks to streamline overlapping operations while managing billions in debt.
The news business, too, faces a reset. CNN would join forces at least structurally with Paramount-owned CBS, raising questions about editorial independence and positioning. The merger has already drawn political attention in the United States, particularly given perceived ties between the Ellison family and Donald Trump, though the company maintains that newsroom autonomy will be preserved.
If approved, the deal would mark another milestone in Hollywood’s consolidation wave shrinking the industry’s traditional “big six” studios to a “big four”, with Paramount joining Disney, Universal, and Sony at the top table.
In an industry built on storytelling, this merger may well become its most consequential plot twist yet.
