MAM
KFC’s ‘Aaj ka Special’ looks to break monotony of daily fare
NEW DELHI: Slow braised with the choicest of ingredients, infused with flavourful spices and presented like poetry on a plate – a karela (bitter-gourd) would still be a karela! When your mealtimes are a series of Ks – karela, khichdi, kaddu – or when your week seems such a drag that you can no longer tell the difference between Tuesday or Thursday, KFC’s ‘Aaj ka Special’ campaign hopes to break the monotony with its zing and zest.
Through a series of ‘Aaj ka Special’ digital films that feature Colonel Sanders promoting KFC’s new range of daily special menu items, the fast-food chain is tempting customers to give in to their cravings for crispy fried chicken.
The films, conceptualized by Ogilvy & Mather India, capture relatable moments from everyday life when we grapple with the choices of ‘go with it’ or ‘go for it’.
“When life gets dull and boring, we usually reach out to food and not everyday food, we ask for something special – ‘Aaj ka special kya hai?’. It is precisely this emotion that we’ve latched onto,” said Ogilvy (north) chief creative officer Ritu Sharda. Of course, the message here is to bring out how KFC is all the ‘special’ you need on an otherwise dull day.
KFC India CMO Moksh Chopra tells us what makes ‘Aaj ka Special’ so special indeed. "Whether it is boredom with the same home food or the tyranny of work routine, KFC is a great way to liven up any day and make it just that little bit more special. The different films in this series are sure to strike a chord with KFC fans across all ages,” he said.
In the first of the ‘Aaj Ka Special’ series, the colonel foils a father’s attempt to woo his family with some gourmet karela (is this a thing now?). In another, he shows us how a family that bites into crispy, juicy, KFC chicken together, stays together. Imagine the plight of a husband in the last film, when he’s told that the kids are away, but he has to make do with khichdi. Luckily, the Colonel was right around the corner delivering more than a sermon of ‘Boring hatao, Special le jao’.
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.
