Ad Campaigns
Kurkure unveils the second TVC to introduce its puffed and pellet segment
Mumbai: Following the first TVC film that captured the ‘masaaledar’ banter between a young protagonist and ghost, Kurkure unveiled its second TVC under its ongoing “Halke Mein Lo” campaign to celebrate its youthful new sub-brand, Kurkure Playz.
The film opens with the family enjoying teatime in the front yard of their bungalow when there’s a sudden disturbance on the radio playing next to them. That’s when they look up to find a spaceship hovering over the lawn amid dark clouds with strong winds. Two larger-than-life aliens appear with a plan to abduct the family, beckoning the protagonist to get on the ship right away. While spooked at first, a bite of Kurkure Playz Pastax transforms the youngster’s fear into a take-it-easy “Halke Mein Lo” attitude, leading him to make witty wisecracks and diffusing an intimidating situation into a laughing riot.
Commenting on the TVC, Leo Burnett national creative director Vikram Pandey (Spiky) said, “This is the second film for the new Kurkure Playz campaign, and it continues the light-hearted quirky tonality set by the first film with our “Halke Mein Lo” proposition. In this film we find the protagonist’s family facing an alien invasion, but they manage to put off their abduction by stalling the aliens. We hope that the audiences will enjoy this film as much as the first one.”
Speaking on the campaign, Kurkure said associate director and brand lead Neha Prasad, “Aimed at the gen-z audience, our campaign encourages the Indian youth to take it easy in the face of daily hiccups through a proposition that is refreshing yet colloquial – “Halke Mein Lo.” Our first film received an overwhelmingly positive response for its unique storytelling format. This propelled us to bring forth the second TVC that we hope will once again keep everyone entertained in true Kurkure style!”
Adding another playful twist to the campaign, Kurkure collaborated with popular actress and social media sensation, Niti Taylor, for a ‘halka’ prank. The actress shared an image of a supposed alien sighting on her Instagram story, leaving fans curious about her encounter! But upon disclosing her collaboration with Kurkure Playz Pastax, fans were relieved that it was just a harmless prank!
Kurkure Playz comes in two product offerings – the widely popular and successful Kurkure Playz Puffcorn and the all-new Kurkure Playz Pastax. While Kurkure Playz Puffcorn has a distinct shape with a light texture and comes in cheese flavour, Kurkure Playz Pastax has a creamy, herb and onion flavour in a pasta-shaped bite. Kurkure Playz Puffcorn is available at Rs 5, Rs 10, Rs 20, Rs 50 and Kurkure Playz Pastax at Rs 5, Rs 10, and Rs 20 at leading retail and e-commerce platforms across the country.
NATIONAL: Amazon Ads has laid out a sharply tech-led vision for the advertising industry in 2026, arguing that artificial intelligence, streaming TV and creator partnerships will combine to turn brand building into a more precise, performance-driven business.
At the heart of the shift, the company says, is the fusion of AI with Amazon’s vast trove of shopping, browsing and streaming signals, allowing advertisers to move beyond blunt reach metrics to campaigns designed around real customer behaviour.
“The future of advertising is not about reaching more people, but the right people with messages that resonate,” said Amazon Ads India head and vice president Girish Prabhu. “By combining AI with deep customer insights, we help brands move from broadcasting campaigns to having meaningful conversations wherever audiences spend their time.”
One of the biggest changes, according to Amazon Ads, will be the collapse of the wall between media planning and creative development. Retail media, powered by first-party data, is increasingly shaping everything from brand discovery to final purchase, pushing marketers to design campaigns around audience insight rather than internal instinct.
AI is also moving from a support tool to a creative engine. Agentic AI, which automates and accelerates production, is expected to make high-quality creative accessible even to small businesses, compressing weeks of work into hours and giving challengers the ability to compete with larger brands on speed and scale.
Behind the scenes, AI-driven analytics will take on a bigger role in campaign optimisation, identifying patterns, spotting opportunities and recommending actions that would previously have required teams of analysts.
Streaming TV is another big battleground. With India’s video streaming audience now above 600 million and connected TV users at 129.2 million in 2025, advertisers are set to treat streaming not just as a branding channel but as a performance engine, measured increasingly by sales, sign-ups and bookings rather than just reach.
Finally, Amazon Ads sees creators and contextual advertising reshaping how brands tell stories. Creators will act less like influencers and more like long-term partners, while scene-aware ads on streaming platforms will allow brands to insert hyper-relevant offers into the flow of what viewers are watching.
Taken together, Amazon Ads argues, these shifts mark a move towards advertising that is both more human and more measurable, where AI handles the complexity, and creativity does the persuading.
