Diwali is the time of year when family and friends come together to eat, pray, celebrate and splurge! It is also the time of the year when most brands, across the categories, spend on creative and heartwarming campaigns. Every year, we see major brands tapping into the emotions that this festive season brings. The common theme for 2018 is “lighting up someone else’s life”. Almost every ad you see will tell you to open your heart to those who are less fortunate (or perhaps lonelier) than we are. It is interesting to see the same message communicated in so many different ways.  And this Diwali, brands seem to also have a winning formula of their own: celebrations, emotions but most of all, kids! Whether it is Swiggy, Pepperfry, Tata Tiscon or Vodafone, a number of ads, this year, have been told from a kid’s point of view or feature a kid, as the main protagonist. An effective way to make the audience smile because hey, who doesn’t like kids? On the last episode of Creative Picks, we told you that we liked Saregama Carvaan’s #ShorYaSangeet ad and Coca-Cola’s share a coke TVC for their fresh storytelling. This week, we got to see many more interesting festive adverts like the HP commercial and the Legrand India ad.

So here’s a roundup of all the Diwali 2018 ads that made an impact and managed to grab consumer attention. Tell us if you have a favourite!

Vodafone

Vodafone’s Diwali ad brings out the changing nature of celebrations seen through the eyes of a kid. It encourages people to #LookUp again and celebrate Diwali with their families by keeping down their devices.

Swiggy

Swiggy’s Diwali ad also features a young kid who’s going around his colony to give packets of mithai to his neighbours. In return, he receives chocolates and sweets from them. At the end of the day, when a Swiggy delivery boy comes to deliver food at the kid’s home, the kid offers the delivery boy some sweets and doesn’t let him go empty handed. The ad encourages us to put a smile on someone else’s face, especially those who are working on Diwali, to make it special for us.

Pepperfry

Once again, we’ve a cute, young kid who’s celebrating Diwali with her toys.

HP

HP India’s Diwali ad tells the story of a child (yet again) and his genuine concern for a street vendor, ‘Amma’ whose efforts to sell ‘diyas’ is not receiving good response. The bigger message here is to encourage viewers to support the street vendors and make this Diwali a brighter one for the less fortunate.

TATA Tiscon

Tata Tiscon touches upon a different aspect of celebration. It features 3 young kids trying to light up an elderly man’s life who’s living all by himself after his son moved to Bangalore.  Love the music in this one!

Legrand India

Legrand India’s Diwali ad salutes their electrician partners, who are the busiest lot during festivities. The ad beautifully pays a tribute to all the unsung heros (the electricians) who light up so many homes on Diwali.

Cadbury

Cadbury’s Diwali ad shows a young couple paying a visit to their grumpy neighbour’s home knowing fully well that he may not appreciate company. However, the couple manages to melt his heart with Cadbury Celebrations. The ad highlights the joy of gifting and sharing the happiness with another person.

Coca-Cola 

Coca-Cola India’s new festive campaign aims to inspire people to make this Diwali special for someone.

Saregama Carvaan

Saregama Carvaan shows what the pets go through during Diwali and what we can do as pet-lovers. The ad stands out for its sensitive take on Diwali celebrations.

Tanishq

Tanishq’s Diwali ad is all about celebrating the festival across different cities in India, cultures and age groups. This one’s fun to watch!

Ghadi

Ghadi’s Diwali campaign urges consumers to give each profession its due respect and not to demean people for what they do.

Vijay Sales

Vijay Sales’ new ad personifies the joy of Diwali shopping and highlights how the brand has helped maintain a family ‘parampara’ of shopping all these years.

Honor Mobiles

Honor Mobiles is all about breaking the hesitations, overcoming differences and celebrating the festival of light with your loved ones.

Here’s wishing everyone a very happy Diwali !