Ad Campaigns
MS Dhoni becomes a drama king in Snickers’ latest ad
MUMBAI: Mars Wrigley Confectionery, the company behind Snickers bars, known for its quirky, tongue-in-cheek personality has found a partner in the charming and dynamic cricket icon, MS Dhoni. He is the new brand ambassador.
Since its launch in India, the filled chocolate bar has established itself as a solution to hunger cravings and has developed a strong base of loyal consumers. As the cricketer gets set to join the Snickers family, fans will get a chance to see a side of him that has so far remained undiscovered, that of a Drama King.
Conceptualised by creative agency RK SWAMY BBDO, the TVC captures a humorous locker room conversation between captain cool and his team. MS Dhoni is seen in a completely new avatar, dressed as a warrior. Channeling his inner king, in full gusto, he calls upon his teammates to take a pledge to beat the opposing team. This uncharacteristic tirade is finally brought to an end when one of the players reasons that hunger makes even captain cool lose his cool and offers him a bar of Snickers to satiate his hunger.
The new TVC gives a new spin to MS Dhoni’s otherwise calm personality and successfully reiterates that ‘hunger ache achhon ko badal deta’ and India’s favorite cricketer is no exception!
Talking about the association, Mars Wrigley Confectionery marketing director Yogesh Tewari says, “We are honoured to have MS Dhoni join the Snickers family and with this association, we are beginning the next chapter of our journey in India and strengthening our relevance amongst Indian consumers.”
Cricketer MS Dhoni adds, “I am extremely excited to be associated with the brand. It breaks away from the monotony and resonates with the quirk in everybody. It has the capability to curate emotions that redefine one’s personality the best. It has always been one of my favourites not only because of its delicious taste, but also because it is a perfect solution to hunger pangs.”
The campaign that went live on 5 March on television, will be supported by an extensive 360-degree marketing approach including digital, in-store and OOH.
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.
