<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/47640804.cms" />India has always been a country of taboos and restrictions. But things have been changing fast, and for the good. And since advertising is a reflection of the society, many recent Indian ads have reflected those behavioural changes that are evident in the modern Indian. 
Below is a list of some recent Indian ads that defy the preconceived social norms and taboos. 
 
1. Myntra’s Lesbian Ad: This is probably the most-talked about ad in India right now. The country's first advertisement showing a lesbian couple preparing to meet the parents is making waves on social media. The online video shows two women in a live-in relationship flirting and dressing up for the day, chatting about the expectations they face and their love for each other. Titled 'The Visit', the ad breaks the taboo of lesbianism in India. Shot for Myntra's ethnic wear collection, the digital film has got over 2 lakh hits on YouTube over 10 days. 
 
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2. Fastrack’s Move On Campaign: It is argued that before Myntra, Fastrack was the brand that brought out the lesbian issues out in the open through its ‘Move On’ campaign. Move On is a controversial ad campaign by Fastrack was to show the relevance of “moving on” from things that are limiting. The campaign involved a series of short ads representing socio-cultural issues that are controversial. One of the ads shows a couple inflating a large playhouse and moving in. The ad ends with bold white-coloured text saying “Live in. Move on.”, hence encouraging those who want to have live-in relationships to go ahead and do so. Another of the ads under this campaign show two girls walking out of a bright pink closet, one by one, tugging at their clothes with the copy “Come out of the closet. Move on.”, thus encouraging homosexuals to embrace their sexuality. All these ads talk about being bold in accepting issues considered taboo, especially when it’s about accepting oneself. 
 
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3. Tanishq’s Second Marriage Ad: Widowed and divorced women have historically been shunned in areas of India. So imagine the nation's surprise when jeweler Tanishq celebrated a second marriage in its new ad.India was "mesmerized" by the ad and many trade outlets called the commercial "revolutionary" and "crazy bold." Tanishq is possibly the first to introduce remarriage in Indian advertising, which was a taboo till now. 
 
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4. Airtel’s ‘Boss’ Ad: Telecom service provider Bharti Airtel’s ‘Boss’ad, which presents a working woman cooking for her man, had stirred up outrage on Twitter. But adman Prahlad Kakkar went ahead to hold that the ad is perfectly valid and there’s nothing wrong in the content. The much-debated woman-boss in the Airtel commercial was criticised by some on social media for being regressive (the woman is the boss at work and comes back to cook at home), but many professionals surveyed found it balanced in its portrayal of women. The ad questioned the taboo of a woman being the boss in India. 
 
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5. KBC’s ‘Kohima’ Ad: The ad campaign for Sony TV’s popular game show ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ alludes to the widespread issue of racial discrimination faced by people from North East India across the country and sends a powerful message about racism in India. In the recent past, North East students have been beaten up, humiliated and killed owing to their facial features and the KBC ad couldn’t have come at a better time. 
 
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5 Ads That Defy Social Taboos In India

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Starting with the India-Pakistan World Cup game, Indian brands used Twitter as a platform to promote their marketing messages. 
Using an aggregate of Retweets, Favourites and Replies, Twitter has come up with a Twitter Advertising Index to acknowledge the top 5 brands from over 50 brands that advertised with them on that day. The #INDvPAK match also saw 1.7 million tweets and over 118 million impressions. 
 
The following are the five brands that won the day on Twitter: 
 
@NikeCricket: A part of the #BleedBlue campaign: Nike created the chant #BleedBlue which has been rallying supporters of the Indian cricket team for over two world cups now. Nike is also the sponsor of the Indian Team Jersey. As a part of the #BleedBlue campaign they sent out personalized jerseys to sports stars, celebrities and other members of the sports fraternity so that they can #BleedBlue in the true colours of the team. The most retweeted tweet on match day was that of Roger Federer unpacking his Jersey. 
 
@StarSportsIndia: Star Sports owns the broadcasting rights to the ICC Cricket world cup and are also sponsors of the Indian Team jersey. They started with the campaign #WontGiveItBack given India are the reigning champion of the cup and before game day asked people to vote on the outcome of the game. They also ran a promotion asking people to write back to them with something funny about the #IndVsPak game and winners would be sent Team Jerseys. 
 
@KitKatIndia: Nestle Kit Kat ran the campaign #SlowIsBetter around the new KitKat Senses chocolate. The product is made over 12 hours with slow churned chocolate for a Rich Smooth Taste. @KitKatIndia was able to find a creative way to integrate this story into the larger Cricket narrative by asking people to guess the slowest ball to take a wicket during the #IndVsPak match to win e-shopping vouchers. 
 
@ClubMahindra: Club Mahindra was able to find creative ways to integrate stories from their resorts into the game on Sunday. They put the Mandala from their logo to great use with tweets around the toss, when Virat Kohli was hitting fours and sixes and when he hit his 100. When there was a great catch on the pitch they were ready with a tweet that showed someone catching a fish at one of their resorts and drew parallels of what a great catch looked like at @ClubMahindra. The finally ended the day with a picture of a cake that their chefs had baked for the team at one of their resorts. 
 
@AxisBank: Axis Bank went after cricketing rituals when they asked fans to tag a friend who has a unique way of cheering for India. The hashtag used was #SuperFanRitual. 
 
India plays South Africa in its next match on February 22. Considering it is another Sunday, we expect a lot of other brands try out their luck on Twitter that day. 
 
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5 Brands That Won Twitter During India-Pak World Cup Match

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Cell phones and the digital revolution in India have impacted our lives in many ways. Today many of us would ideally prefer to Chat or ‘WhatsApp’ with our family members more often than talking to them in person. 
 
To take a dig at this generation, and for emphasizing the importance of having stronger family ties sans technology, SAB TV has launched the #DigitalDividesSABUnites campaign. 
 
The campaign features a film conceptualized by Soho Square Mumbai. 
 
As part of its #DigitalDividesSABUnites campaign, this film makes its point in Bollywood style; with the help of song and dance. The TVC smoothly dovetails the brand promise, puts SAB TV right in the centre of the solution to the growing ‘digital obsession’ malaise, and closes with the channel positioning, “Asli Mazza SAB ke Saath Aata Hai.” 
 
The ad film, which went live on 31st January, is directed by Prasoon Pandey of Corcoise Films. 
 
Anooj Kapoor, Senior EVP and Business Head, SAB TV, said, “Our film takes a light-hearted dig at how the virtual world is beginning to overpower the real world which we inhabit. The fact that the virtual world has made us individualistic and introverted is nicely contrasted with how SAB continues to make us extroverted and re-enthuses us to bond with our family through fun and entertainment.” 
 
The campaign will run across TV, DTH, Cinema Halls, Digital and on-ground events. 
 
The channel, after the recent demise of celebrated cartoonist RK Lakshman, created a program called R K Laxman Ki Duniya—it was based on the books and works of R K Laxman, attempted to capture episodes and incidents involving happenings in the life of the common man. 
The show represented the character's hopes, aspirations, troubles and weaknesses in day-to-day life as depicted by R.K Laxman over the years. As an expression of gratitude and to honour the eminent cartoonist, SAB TV brings back R.K Laxman Ki Duniya this Saturday from 11:30am to 1:30pm. 
 
However, despite attempts to grab a bigger mindshare among the Indian TV viewers, SAB TV’s ratings continue to slip. As per TAM ratings, last week, the channel’s ratings dipped to 305 million GVTs (Gross Viewership in Thousands) as compared to 318 GVTs the corresponding week. 
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SAB TV takes a dig at the Internet generation

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/46146012.cms" /> Just two days ago Micromax was in news because it became India’s leading smartphone player. It had toppled over Samsung to win the No.1 race, <a href="http://www.in.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/Micromax-becomes-the-leader-of-mobile-market-in-India-Samsung-refutes-those-claims/articleshow/46119576.cms">though Samsung refuted these claims</a> by citing GFk numbers. Well, that’s an old story now. The new story is that the Indian handset manufacturer has a new Chief Marketing Officer. Yes, you heard that right; Micromax Informatics has named Shubhajit Sen as its new CMO. 
 
At Micromax, he will be tasked to focus on leading all marketing efforts for the company acroMicromaxss markets while strengthening the overall brand communication. 
 
Sen replaces Shuvodip Pal, who was appointed as the CMO of Micromax In December 2012. Prior to Micromax, Sen was the Executive Vice President – Marketing of Glaxo Smith Kline Consumer Health Limited for 21 years and served as the key resource to accentuate the successful journey of the company. 
 
So, what new would Sen bring on table? Innovations that have a great impact on people’s lives, says Vineet Taneja, CEO, Micromax Informatics. While commenting on Sen’s appointment he had said, “As Micromax opens a new chapter in its growth trajectory; we welcome Shubhajit on board with us as the new CMO. He will prove to be a great asset to the Micromax leadership team. Being one of the best marketing veterans, he has a proven ability to create strategic clarity, drive innovation and growth, ensure disciplined execution, and deliver results. We believe that his passion for technology will help ensure that Micromax continues to deliver innovations that have a great impact on people's lives.” 
 
Commenting on his new role, Sen said, “It is an exciting opportunity for me to lead the marketing efforts for Micromax at a time when the brand is experiencing such a phenomenal transformation. As a marketer, I have always believed in consumer-centricity and Micromax has consistently understood, anticipated and shaped consumer’s expectations of the category better than competition. I look forward to building the Micromax brand philosophy further in its next phase of growth.” 
 
 An Economics graduate from SRCC, Delhi University and an MBA from IIM-Ahmedabad, Shubhajit Sen joined GSK in 1992 as a Management Trainee and advanced through the organization to be the Executive Vice President-Marketing, donning various hats through the journey both nationally and globally. He has been the brain behind some of the most successful, award-winning consumer initiatives that have delivered superlative business results. 
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