Ad Campaigns
Now brands piggyback elections
MUMBAI: Move over political parties, election fever has gripped brands as well! As if political outfits telling people how they’ve changed their lives for the better wasn’t enough, we now have brands doing the honors. And while they may be performing a good deed in urging viewers to step out and cast their vote, not all brands that are piggybacking the polls seem to have got it right. Here’s taking a look at the election-based ads doing the rounds of television currently…
Fevicol uses crazy chairs as a symbol
Known for its clever, tongue-in-cheek advertisements, Fevicol’s latest too does not disappoint. A chai-wallah enters the shop of a carpenter who is making the next prime minister’s chair. He points out to three variations – one with BJP’s lotus, another with Congress’s hand, and a group of chairs joined unevenly symbolic of the Third Front. The advert is a pun intended on the politicos vying for power.
Hero Hf Deluxe appeals to vote the one with merit
Many a times, people vote for candidates/political parties who belong to the same region/community/caste/religion. The latest Hero advert advocates voting for people based on talent/merit instead of these mores.
Google’s #PledgeToVote with Mr. Shyam Negi
Part of Google India’s ambitious new campaign that encourages Indians to vote, the inspiring TVC tells the story of Shyam Saran Negi (97) from Himachal Pradesh, who has never missed a chance to exercise his right to vote since 1951 when India’s first general elections were held.
Tata Tea Jaago Re strikes a strong message for women voters
The second part of Tata Tea’s ‘Power of 49’ campaign targets women voters. The advert titled ‘kaala teeka’ is aimed at women from the upper strata, who don’t think much about exercising their right to vote.
Sunfeast shouts a subtle slogan
In keeping with the nature of the brand, Sunfeast’s latest advert is a fun take on political parties and elections. It features children as leaders and voters who go on to form the ‘Yippee’ party.
RR Kabel poses a straight question
Coming from a hardware brand, the advert comes straight to the point and tells voters to “choose wisely”. However, it does hit the right chord with a strong line of communication.
Idea warns politicians ‘no ullu banoing’
A typically smart-alecky advert coming from Idea, which is in sync with the brand’s punch-line, ‘no ullu banaoing’ even as it sends out a message to politicos not to fool the junta.
Havells fans off bribery
A clever advert that plays on the brand’s ‘Hawaa Badlegi’ proposition to send out the message that the ‘cash for vote’ trick will not work with today’s upright electorate
Subhash sarees salutes women voters
How does a clothes brand connect with elections? Subhash Sarees does it by saying that the ‘kaala teeka’ is the best form of adornment for any woman apart from the kaajal, bindi and so on.
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.
