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When Ads Stick Like Fevicol: A Look at the Hero MotoCorp's new ad , and a Troubling Trend

 

An ad is supposed to tell a story in under a minute. The best ones do more, they stay with you. They stick to your memory like Fevicol glue and refuse to go away. One such unforgettable campaign is Hero Honda’s iconic “Fill it. Shut it. Forget it.”

The iconic campaign was launched in India in 1985 alongside the introduction of the Hero Honda CD 100 motorcycle. It highlighted the bike's high fuel efficiency of over 80 km/litre.  The ad became a cultural phenomenon among young Indians. At a time when money was tight and fuel efficiency mattered deeply, Hero Honda struck gold. The punchline perfectly captured the brand’s core promise, unbeatable mileage. It was simple. It was sharp. And it worked.

The message was clear: fill your tank once and forget about fuel worries for days. (Of course, the ad did attract some criticism later for its subtle innuendo, but that’s a discussion for another day.)

The Comeback: Nostalgia Meets Modern India: Fast forward to today, and Hero MotoCorp has revived this legendary punchline in its new campaign: “Ek Raasta Hai Zindagi”, prominently being featured during IPL broadcasts. At first glance, the ad does many things right. It taps into nostalgia while blending it with contemporary themes. We see:

Rustic Indian settings and relatable everyday moments. A young man teaching his girlfriend how to ride a motorcycle, symbolizing independence. So far, so good.

Where the Ad Takes a Turn. Then comes a shift. Two young men on a Splendour bike are shown riding across different terrains, seemingly chasing something. Eventually, we realize they are following an army truck filled with young women in uniform, possibly heading to their posting.

One of the men rides alongside the truck and hands over a small box to one of the women. She opens it. In the next scene, she is seen wearing a ring. The young man’s wedding proposal has been accepted, and he is pleased as a punch. Cue the emotional music. Curtain call.

But Something Feels Off… While the ad is visually appealing and emotionally designed, it raises an uncomfortable question: Is it appropriate to use the Indian Armed Forces as a backdrop for romantic storytelling?

The Indian Army uniform carries dignity, discipline, and deep national pride. When such imagery is used in a commercial context, especially for a romantic gesture, it risks trivializing that symbolism.

There are further concerns: Public display of affection is still culturally sensitive in many contexts. Should such portrayals be shown when individuals are in uniform?  Does this blur the line between respect and commercial exploitation?

Not the First Time: This isn’t an isolated case. Fevikwik, known for its humorous ads, once depicted a scene at the Wagah border involving an Indian and a Pakistani soldier. The Indian soldier uses glue on the Pakistani soldier shoe, and the moment is played for laughs.

It was clever, but also questionable. Surprisingly, such ads rarely face serious scrutiny. They often escape criticism in mainstream media and are seldom challenged by bodies like the ASCI (Advertising Standards Council of India).

The Good, The Bad, and The Memorable: To be fair, the Hero MotoCorp ad does many things well: Strong emotional appeal, High production quality, Relatable Indian cultural moments (cricket, Janmashtami celebrations). A powerful reuse of an iconic tagline. But it also tries to do too much in too little time. At nearly a minute, the ad feels slightly stretched. A tighter 45–50 second edit could have made it far more impactful.

“Fill it. Shut it. Forget it.” remains one of India’s most brilliant advertising lines, simple, sticky, and strategic. The new campaign successfully revives its nostalgia, but stumbles slightly in its attempt to add emotional layers. Because sometimes, in advertising as in storytelling: Less is more. Respect matters as much as recall.

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“195 Months. One Breakthrough Month: March 2026 Delivers 13% of Total Readers!”

195 months. That’s nearly 16 years of writing… thinking… publishing… showing up. No shortcuts. No hacks. Just consistency.

And then came March 2026. 1,80,000 readers. In just 31 days. That’s 13% of everything I’ve built over 195 months.

It takes time to sink in. For years, growth felt like a slow burn, like a Malayalam thriller movie. A steady climb. Sometimes, it is even invisible. And then suddenly… it wasn’t.

This wasn’t luck. This was compounding, finally showing up. Every post that didn’t go viral. Every idea that felt ignored. Every late-night publish. They were all building toward this moment.

Because growth doesn’t announce itself when it’s happening, it shows up when you’ve almost forgotten to expect it. If there’s one lesson from this journey, it’s this:

Consistency feels slow… until it becomes unstoppable. To everyone creating, writing, building quietly — keep going. Your “March moment” is closer than you think. In a lighter way, your Own “Karan Arjun Aayenge (your moment will come)”. Spoken by Rakhee Gulzar from the movie Karan Arjun, “Karan and Arjun will return.”

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KKR or RR, the sponsor shadows the team! A case study of Brand Confusion!

Featured is the jersey of Rajasthan Royals. But no… look again. It’s actually the jersey of Kolkata Knight Riders. And yet, what hits you first? RR. Loud. Clear. Unmissable. That’s the point. In a high-speed, attention-deficit environment like the IPL, people don’t read they recognize. And recognition is built on shortcuts. In cricketing shorthand, RR = Rajasthan Royals. No second thoughts. No decoding required.

 Now enter this jersey. KKR walks in wearing its iconic purple. The crest is there. The identity exists. But right at the top, dominating visual attention, sits “RR” courtesy of sponsor RR Kabel. To the casual viewer, the brain doesn’t process sponsorship hierarchies or brand ownership. It simply maps what it already knows. And what it knows is this: RR belongs to Rajasthan Royals.

A sponsor has unintentionally hijacked a team’s mental space. From RR Kabel’s point of view, this is brilliant. Their brand is front and prominent, bold and memorable. In fact, they’re benefiting from an existing IPL association without paying for that specific team identity. That’s not just visibility that’s cognitive leverage.

What about KKR? Somewhere between sponsorship revenue and jersey design approvals, a basic question was missed: What will the viewer actually see in 2 seconds on screen? This is not a design problem. It’s not even a marketing problem.

This is a product thinking failure. Because a jersey is not fabric. It is a product of identity. And identity operates on:

• Visual hierarchy
• Instant recall
• Cognitive clarity

When those are compromised, the product fails—no matter how strong the sponsorship deal is. This is where large organizations often slip. Decisions happen in silos. Sponsorship teams chase revenue. Branding teams focus on aesthetics. Execution teams ensure delivery. But very few step back and ask:

 “Does this make sense to the consumer?” Common sense says: Don’t let another team’s identity dominate yours on your own jersey. But common sense, as always, is not common. And that’s the lesson.

In Marketing and  in life, If your core identity is overshadowed by what surrounds it, you may have optimized for visibility… but you’ve lost ownership. And once identity is diluted, recall follows.

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