MAM
McDonald’s India says ’25 years of lovin it’ on its 25th anniversary
Mumbai: From birthday parties to first salary treats, from getting together with family and friends over meals to all occasions big or small, McDonald’s has been a part of Indian customers’ lives for the last 25 years. To celebrate this important milestone, McDonald’s India – North & East has launched the #25YearsOfLovinIt campaign capturing fun, light-hearted, feel-good moments that McDonald’s is known for. To further spread the joy of completing 25 years, the fast-food brand has introduced its Rs 25 menu.
Featuring popular social media celebrities and real-life couple Awez Darbar and Nagma Mirajkar, #25YearsOfLovinIt is a contemporary rendition and continuation story of McDonald’s memorable ‘hum dono boyfriend-girlfriend hai kya’ campaign which struck a chord with its appeal.
Conceptualised by DDB Mudra, the film opens up with a typical moment in this social media age, when Awez, the male protagonist, accidentally double taps on Nagma’s (the female protagonist) old profile photo, reconnecting them after many years. The new campaign, directed by Sudhir Shetty and produced by Yellawe Digital, brings out the moments of happiness when two friends reunite to relive their cherished memories over their favourite Happy Meal at McDonald’s.
“I remember the excitement of the first-ever McDonald’s opening up in India, right next to the college I ended up going to. 25 years on, I feel the same childish thrill when I’m near a McDonald’s,” said DDB Mudra North executive creative director Iraj Fraz Batla. “And as we celebrate 25 years of McDonald’s in India, it’s the same thrill we capture using the characters who appeared in one of our most iconic films. While they reunite, we’re reminded how much they, McDonald’s, and by extension, all of us have grown over the years.”
EMBED Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wxrgrp7lBs0
Commenting on the campaign, McDonald’s India – North and East chief operating officer Rajeev Ranjan said, “We have had an amazing 25 years in the country. Bringing smiles to millions of our customers through our great-tasting delicious menu offerings and providing delightful memorable experiences to our guests has been extremely satisfying. Our new campaign beautifully captures the nostalgia, the excitement, fun and the sheer joy of happy times spent by two friends meeting after 25 years at their favourite McDonald’s restaurant enjoying their favourite meal. Through the film we reinforce our promise of providing delicious feel-good moments easy for our customers, we are optimistic that our customers would relate to and love the campaign.”
Brands
Estée Lauder to shed 10,000 jobs as new boss bets on digital shift
The cosmetics giant raises its profit outlook but stays silent on a possible merger with Spain’s Puig, as job cuts deepen and a three-year sales slump weighs on the turnaround
NEW YORK: Stéphane de La Faverie is not done cutting. Estée Lauder announced on Friday that it plans to eliminate as many as 3,000 additional jobs, taking its total redundancy programme to as many as 10,000 roles, up from a previous target of 7,000 announced a year ago. The company, which owns La Mer, The Ordinary, Tom Ford, and Aveda, employs roughly 57,000 people worldwide. The mathematics of what is now being contemplated is stark.
The fresh round of cuts is expected to generate a further $200 million in savings, bringing the total annual savings from the programme to as much as $1.2 billion before taxes. That money, De La Faverie has made clear, will be ploughed back into the turnaround.
A CEO in a hurry
De La Faverie, who took the helm in January 2025, inherited a company that had endured three consecutive years of annual sales declines. His response has been to move fast and cut deep. A significant portion of the latest redundancies reflects his push to reduce headcount at US department stores, long a cornerstone of Estée Lauder’s distribution model but now a channel in structural decline. In their place, he is accelerating the shift toward faster-growing online platforms, including Amazon.com and TikTok Shop, a pivot that is reshaping not just where Estée Lauder sells but how it thinks about its customers.
The numbers are moving in the right direction
Despite the pain, there are signs the medicine is working. Estée Lauder raised its profit outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year, guiding for adjusted earnings per share in the range of $2.35 to $2.45, above analyst estimates and a notable step up from the $2.05 to $2.25 range it had guided for in February. Organic net sales growth is expected to come in at 3 per cent, the company said, at the high end of the range it set out in February.
The share price tells a mixed story. After De La Faverie took charge, the stock surged nearly 60 per cent, buoyed by investor optimism that a longtime company insider could finally arrest the decline. But 2026 has been rougher: the shares have fallen 27 per cent this year, weighed down by disappointing February results and the overhang of unresolved merger talks with Spanish beauty giant Puig Brands SA. The company gave no additional details about those discussions on Friday, leaving the market to guess.
Silence on Puig
The proposed tie-up with Puig remains the most consequential unknown hanging over Estée Lauder. A deal with the Barcelona-based group, which owns brands including Carolina Herrera and Rabanne, would reshape the global luxury beauty landscape. But with nothing new to say and a turnaround still very much in progress, De La Faverie is asking investors to trust the process.
Three years of sales declines, 10,000 job cuts, and a merger that may or may not happen. At Estée Lauder, the overhaul has barely started.
