Indian advertising in the beginning of the 20th century was directed to the elite in the British India. Organised advertising started in India in 1905 by B. Dultaram & co,. In 1929, J Walter Thomson ( JWT ) introduced professionalism in advertising. In those days, Hollywood actresses and celestrial models appeared in soap ads. Leela Chitnis pioneered an Indian’s endorsements of Lux beauty soap. In 1946, Bobby Kooka Air India’s commercial directory and Umesh Rao artist with JWT created a mascot-Air India’s Maharaja. The decade is 1950s marked the Indian contribution to advertising as prior to that many creatives were imported from London’s Fleet Street. R K Laxman created Gatta, a mascot for Asian Paints.
In the 1960s, Zodiac advertising by Ogilvy caught attention. Lintas created Lifebuoy ad on health platform. Wills Filter Cigarettes made for each other series was initiated. In 1966, Sylvester da Cunha, Eustaco Fernandes and Usha Katrak created ‘utterly butterly’ Amul campaign. Amul girl was created for topical punchlines.
Air India flight attendant Karen Lunel appreared in waterfall ad in 1975 and again in 1985. In 1976, Gabbar of Sholay was used to sell Britannia biscuit.
In the wake of Asian Games in 1982, colour TV was introduced in India. Epic serials Ramayana and Mahabharata were telecast. Nirma girl was used for detergents’ advertising on TV screens. Surf was sold as’ Lalita’s samajdhari’. Pan Parag’s ad with Shammi Kapoor and Ashok Kumar appeared. Mudra produced ‘ I love you, Rasna’ and ‘ Only Vimal’. Complan ad featured complan boy and girl, ie. Shahid Kapoor and Ayesha Takia.
Zakir endorsed Taj Mahal tea’ Onida devil was created in 1982. Gold Spot was the zing thing. Prestige cooker ads for ” biwi ka pyar’ and Bajaj Electrical’s ‘ jab main chhota bachcha tha made an impression. Vick’s lozenge, Maggie’s two-minute noodles and ‘Give Me Red’ were remarkable campaigns. The two-wheeler ads of Bajaj, Hero Honda and Kinetic were noticeable. Social Service advertising of ‘Mile Sur Mera Tumhara’ too appeared. Cola Wars were fought backed by advertising. Kamsutra condom ad and Tuff shoes ad of Milind Soman and Madhu Supre too appeared Raymond’s complete Man was created. Cadbury resorted ‘asli swad zindagika’. Thums up bungee Jump ad was exciting. Coke was official sponsor of 1996 cricket world Cup. Pepsi used the line ‘nothing official about it’.
Ericcson One Black Coffee ad to indicate compact product and the famous Fevicol ads too were highly popular.
In the new millennium, Asian’s paints Har Ghar Kuch Kehta Hai was one of the iconic campaigns. Coca cola started Thanda Matlab Coca Cola, Maruti Suzuki emphasised its fuel efficiency (petrol khatam ni hunda). Center shock barbar commercial and ‘Dimag ki batti jalade’ for Metos appeared. Happydent featured bright teeth turning into light bulbs. Amitabh appeared in social service advertising for polio vaccination-Do boond zindagi ke. Indian tourism was promoted by an incredible India campaign. Hutchinson Essar initiated famous pug and boy campaign, later followed by Vodafone. Zoozoos the alian like Creatured appeared in 2009. Idea started ‘What an idea, Sirji’ campaign.
Surf Excel’s ‘ daag achehe hai’ campaign and HDFCStandard Life’s ‘Sar utha ke jiya’ stirred the emotional pitch, Nike featured a man playing a game in a traffic jam.
After 2010, there were many story-telling campaigns-Har ek friend zaroori hota hai for Airtel, prisonbreak by Tata Sky, Google’s story of separated friends reunited thanks to internet search.