Make Soan Papdi Great Again

Read the campaign story

Zepto’s October 2024 festive campaign personified soan papdi, a sweet often associated with jokes about repeated gifting. A brand-team interview describes an AI-assisted character concept developed in-house, produced by Third Floor Films and directed by Jigar Fernandes. Instead of adding another joke at the sweet’s expense, the campaign presented a comeback story. Related appearances and festive extensions remain one campaign family in this study.

Editorial interpretation: reversing a familiar joke gives the audience an immediate context and then changes its emotional direction. A product normally treated as a passive gift becomes a character with a point of view. That can make a seasonal retail message feel less interchangeable. However, recognition of the cultural joke is an assumption to test, and affection for a fictional sweet does not automatically create understanding of the delivery service.

The sources’ claims about engagement and changed perception are not treated as an independent causal evaluation. Not everyone dislikes or regifts the sweet, and no such generalisation is required to understand the creative device. AI-assisted production also does not remove obligations around original design, performer consent or truthful depiction. The proposed adaptation uses clearly fictional, rights-cleared illustration and avoids claims about actual customers’ private gifting behaviour.

Reverse the audience’s expected treatment of the object

Start by identifying the familiar story people tell about an object, then ask what happens if the object could respond. The reversal should add a perspective rather than merely repeat the joke in a louder voice. Test the premise with people who know the reference and people who do not. Both groups should understand the basic story without being told that one reaction is culturally correct. A sympathetic character can challenge a cliché while leaving room for different tastes. Avoid framing ordinary preferences as moral failures or making the audience feel guilty for not enjoying a particular product.

Give the character a consistent and limited role

A personified product needs a recognisable attitude, vocabulary and reason to appear. Define those elements before distributing it across film, posts and other formats. Each appearance should advance the same idea rather than invent a new personality to match the latest trend. Make its fictional status clear, particularly when using formats normally associated with real people or employment. A character should not impersonate a customer, employee or independent reviewer. For a small brand, two or three well-designed situations may be enough to establish the device without creating an ongoing content burden that the team cannot sustain.

Connect the cultural moment to a useful retail choice

Festive attention is valuable only if people can understand the brand’s relevant role. Decide whether the campaign should help them discover a product, plan a gift or understand delivery availability. Keep prices, eligibility and fulfilment conditions separate from the fictional story but easy to find. If a promotion accompanies the film, review its stock and service implications before announcing it. Do not infer service preference from comments about the character. Ask what shoppers would actually do next and whether the campaign gives them enough reliable information to make that choice without pressure or misleading urgency.

A bounded test for another brief

Proposed adaptation: a neighbourhood stationery shop could commission an original illustrated character representing an overlooked plain notebook. Create one short comic in which the notebook responds to assumptions that it is less interesting than decorative alternatives. Compare that with a factual display of the same notebook’s uses and price. Ask consenting adults what they remember, whether the humour feels welcoming and which practical information would help them choose. Use no customer stories, synthetic likenesses or public profiles pretending to be real people. This tests a sympathetic reversal and category connection without reproducing the festive campaign or assuming a character changes purchasing behaviour.

Measure comprehension of the reversal, product and shop recall, tone and usefulness of the next-step information. Separate character affection from service trust. Record whether unfamiliar viewers understand the story without knowing the original cultural reference.

Stop if the joke belittles a community or preference, the character impersonates a real person, or an accompanying offer exceeds available stock and delivery capacity.