As India witnessed a surge in Covid-19 cases of tragic proportions, several brands decided to mute their promotions. Victorinox posted it would put its social media activities on hold for a while. ITC, too, dialled it down, sticking to Covid-related themes. Several brands lent their handles to amplify requests for oxygen and hospital beds. Their gestures drew appreciative nods.

Shaking it up

Of course, for every brand that displayed empathy at such a time, there were others that raised eyebrows with brash campaigns. Four-year-old beverage brand Storia Foods put out a series of parody ads starring comedian Sanket Bhosale. One of them featuring characters resembling Congress leaders Sonia and Rahul Gandhi saw irate workers from the venerable old party ransacking the company’s office; Storia was forced to withdraw the ad. The shakes maker had wanted to shake things up, but it all went horribly wrong

Shell’s ‘ustaads’

Shell Lubricants wants to strike a blow for the mechanics who keep those auto engines running. Its ‘Ab Duniya Dekhegi’ campaign, conceptualised by Taproot Dentsu India, celebrates the work ethic of mechanics. Shell hopes to be “a trusted partner and success catalyst for mechanics”. Endorsed by celebrity biking enthusiast Rannvijay Singh, the campaign has three films based on the success stories of three mechanics who dreamt big. The company lauds the new-age Indian mechanics as Shell ‘Ustaads’. Arrey wah!

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