On 23rd October 2025, a legend and a behemoth of the Indian advertising industry, Mr. Piyush Pandey, passed away. Mr. Pandey was the recipient of the LIA Legend Award and the Executive Chairman of Ogilvy India. But his everlasting legacy has been as the man who shaped Indian advertising with a distinct indigenous influence.
At a time when Western advertising models were spreading far east and wide with rapid speed, Piyush Pandey ensured that India stops and takes note of what Indians love and everything India has to offer. In his oeuvre, a treasure trove of wonderful advertisements, one such marketing campaign stands out from the rest – Fevicol.
Fevicol is an Indian brand of adhesives that is owned by Pidilite Industries. It was first launched in 1959 as an alternative to collagen. But it was decades later, when television became popular in India, and brand advertisements were a common norm on TV, that Fevicol became a household name. The reason behind it was a series of advertising campaigns by the master adman Piyush Pandey.
Fevicol ads had all the ingredients required to create an iconic advertisement and brand. The clips were short enough to hold everyone’s attention, there was an element of intrigue and sometimes suspense in the ads, it was humorous from start to finish, and with the kind of humor that was grounded in Indian reality, and most importantly, they were fresh, unique, and like nothing before.
Piyush Pandey had provided something new to the Indian audience that even he couldn’t comprehend would remain iconic forever.
The genius behind Fevicol’s marketing was identifying the quality they wanted to market, and marketing it in a way it memorable. Needless to say, an adhesive brand would highlight the quality of its adhesion, although a lot of brands focus a lot on aesthetic value, appeal, brand value, etc. Fevicol didn’t do any of that. They simply showed everyone how strong their adhesives are, but with a tinge of humor.
Fevicol advertisers were never unaware that commercial breaks are highly exaggerated. They are not about showing the gospel truth, but about creating an impression that would last. With that ideology, Fevicol went to work.
An ad shows a mother in rural India trying to manage her child while roasting chapatis. She places her child on a Fevicol drum so that he can’t move around anymore. Thus, highlighting the extraordinary adhesive power of Fevicol. Another ad showed a beautiful woman (Katrina Kaif before she became famous) sitting on a train seat, and a newly married groom sat opposite her.
The ad then pans to the groom’s vision, where he sees Katrina Kaif calling him, but he isn’t able to reach her. In fact, he couldn’t even move. It was finally revealed that he had fallen asleep on a Fevicol drum, and that was preventing him from moving.
Neither of these ads, nor many more like them, is about representing the truth. It’s about being humorous and entertaining enough to create an impact and be memorable in people’s minds. This idea of “Unbreakable Bonds” sold very well for Fevicol over the years.
Phrases with cultural and idiomatic integration, such as “Fevicol ka Jod, Tootega Nahi,” “Iss Jod ka koi Tod nahi,” “Pakde Rehna, Chhodna Nahin,” “Todo Nahi, Jodo,” “Hum Jude Rahenge,” etc., will forever remain iconic among the Indian masses. The core message of a “Core, Unbreakable Bond” has remained solid for more than 5 decades, and that was enough to leave a permanent mark on people.
After Fevicol ran its course of those iconic ads throughout the 2000s and early 2010s, it came up with another iconic campaign. This time, it wasn’t a digital or visual one, but a physical one. Fevicol came up with a “Free Store Campaign” in 2013 in Mumbai.
As part of that campaign created by Ogilvy & Mather, as many as 87 items were displayed around a particular mall, and the customers were asked to take any of those items for free. “Take it for Free” was written on each of those items. But the trick was that each of those items was glued down with Fevicol.
None of those items could be removed from their original place, and thus, Fevicol once again highlighted its genius of a viral marketing campaign. The campaign was a hit, and the brand consciousness remained as strong as their adhesives on people’s minds. This is how Fevicol managed to take Marketing to another level.
