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Mast or Meh: Swiggy, Zepto, OPPO, Titan and more - how brands capture Diwali hype
From emotional family reunions to witty takes on modern celebrations, the Diwali ads of 2025 capture the evolving Indian sentiment, one that balances tradition with today’s pace. So, as we scroll through our feeds lit with campaigns that tug at the heart and tickle the funny bone, let’s take a closer look at how brands are celebrating Diwali this year.
Diwali 2025 ads
It’s that time of the year again when brands swap their usual hustle for heartstrings, and storytelling takes center stage. The scent of freshly made mithai mingles with the glow of fairy lights, and every ad you see feels like a warm hug wrapped in nostalgia and festive sparkle.
Diwali has always been more than a festival, it’s an emotion. A season of connection, celebration and reflection. And for advertisers, it’s the ultimate creative playground as it's a chance to weave light, love, and meaning into campaigns that do more than sell; they stay with you.
From emotional family reunions to witty takes on modern celebrations, the Diwali ads of 2025 capture the evolving Indian sentiment, one that balances tradition with today’s pace. So, as we scroll through our feeds lit with campaigns that tug at the heart and tickle the funny bone, let’s take a closer look at how brands are celebrating Diwali this year.
Swiggy's Asli Sona
Swiggy takes an unexpected detour from food to fortune, promoting gold coins with a campaign starring Sonakshi Sinha. On paper, it’s an interesting pivot, a trusted delivery app expanding its festive offerings. But on screen, the execution falters.
The ad opens with Sonakshi embodying a character “born with a gold spoon”, quite literally, as she carries one throughout the ad film. What could’ve been a clever metaphor for privilege quickly turns into a confusing commentary on nepotism. The script seems unsure of whether it wants to sell gold, satirize privilege or ride the wave of social commentary made popular by shows like The Ba***ds of Bollywood. Unfortunately, it ends up doing none convincingly.
The ad tries to blend wit with wealth but loses its balance somewhere between social satire and sales pitch.
Zepto Mithai Wars
After last year’s “Make Soan Papdi Great Again” campaign, Zepto returns this Diwali with a sequel and this time, it’s political. Partnering with Haldiram’s, the “Mithai Wars 2025”, India’s first-ever mithai election, cleverly blends Indian election drama with festive nostalgia, creating a humorous yet immersive experience that turns everyday mithai boxes into characters with personalities.
The hero film takes the idea further, transforming Diwali’s sweet debates into a high-energy electoral battlefield, complete with posters, rallies and slogans that parody India’s political fever with tongue-in-cheek wit.
What makes Mithai Wars 2025 shine is its interactive format. Every Zepto delivery between October 10–14 becomes a mini polling booth, where customers receive mystery mithai boxes and can cast their votes via the app. It’s a brilliant piece of gamified marketing to drive engagement, orders and conversations simultaneously.
Muthoot Group's tribute to Soldiers
The Muthoot Group trades glitz for gravity with a brand film that shines a light on something far deeper than festive sparkle, the spirit of integrity, courage and sacrifice. The campaign pays tribute to India’s armed forces, weaving emotion and meaning into a celebration that often risks becoming performative.
The film follows three soldiers returning home for Diwali. There’s no heavy-handed patriotism here, just an understated warmth that mirrors the essence of the festival itself: light that endures, even through darkness.
Where most Diwali ads lean into grandeur or nostalgia, this stands apart for its restraint. The campaign not only honors the uniform but also reminds us that true prosperity isn’t measured in gold or growth, but in gratitude and grace.
Titan's #HumariDiwali
Titan's ad, conceptualized by Ogilvy, turns the festive spotlight on those who usually stand behind it, their retail. In an industry where brand campaigns often orbit around luxury, love or light, this one strikes a more intimate note. Set within Titan’s own stores, the film unfolds as a montage of small, heartfelt moments — a sales associate adjusting fairy lights, another carefully wrapping a gift, someone helping a customer pick the perfect festive outfit.
The storytelling feels human, almost documentary-like, capturing the texture of festive preparation from the inside out. There’s no grand narrative, no product push — just gratitude.
Welspun One reveals the journey of Diwali box
In a category not known for sentiment, Welspun One breaks convention with ‘The Diary of a Diwali Box’. It is a festive DVC that turns logistics into a tender story about human connection.
Told through the eyes of a Diwali gift box, the film takes viewers on an unexpected emotional journey, from the expansive precision of a warehouses to the warmth of homes across India. What could have been a corporate showcase of scale and efficiency instead transforms into a poetic narrative about care, craftsmanship, and the unseen hands that make every celebration possible.
The film humanizes an otherwise mechanical process. It’s rare for a B2B brand to craft storytelling that resonates at a consumer level.
Birla Opus Paints to cancel Diwali?
Birla Opus Paints brings the festival’s emotional core to the forefront with a touching narrative that celebrates togetherness in its simplest and most heartfelt form. Eschewing grandiose visuals or celebrity endorsements, the brand instead chooses to spotlight the everyday Indian family.
The film centers around families whose grown-up children live away from home, emphasizing that for many, Diwali is the one time in the year everyone reunites. Through the lens of these families, the narrative captures the bittersweet emotions of waiting all year for this moment and the deep sense of loss if even that reunion is disrupted. The portrayal of an elderly couple preparing for the festival underscores the sentiment that Diwali is incomplete without the presence of loved ones.
What stands out is how the campaign celebrates emotional realism.
Tanishq USA - India Wali Diwali!
The brand takes viewers on a journey that transcends geography, celebrating the festival not just as a ritual but as an emotional experience that unites Indians worldwide. Titled “India Wali Diwali”, the campaign captures the bittersweet reality of celebrating away from home, where streets may not glitter as they do in India, and the smell of homemade sweets might be missing yet the spirit of Diwali remains alive.
Through a poetic and emotive narrative, it reinforces that Diwali is not confined to India; rather, it travels with every Indian, carried in hearts and traditions wherever they may be. By focusing on the emotional essence rather than the physical trappings of the festival, the campaign resonates with the diaspora, evoking nostalgia while celebrating the continuity of cultural roots.
OPPO India takes back to School!
OPPO takes a refreshingly nostalgic route with its latest campaign, a heartwarming story of reconnection, memories and rediscovery. Starring Ranbir Kapoor, the film begins with a lost suitcase but unfolds into something far more emotional, a journey back to one’s roots, where old friends and forgotten bonds light up the festive season.
The narrative captures a universal sentiment that how life’s pace often drifts us apart from our closest friends, but when we meet again, it’s as if no time has passed. What makes this ad stand out is how seamlessly it blends emotion with brand ethos.
SPOTLIGHT
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