The Ad That Made India Smile
There are ads you remember, and then there are ads that live in your memory. The 1994 Cadbury Dairy Milk commercial — the one where a young woman dances across a cricket field after her favorite player scores — falls in the second category.
It wasn’t just an ad. It was joy, freedom, and childhood nostalgia all wrapped in one smooth bite of chocolate. And at the heart of it was ad legend Piyush Pandey, whose creative magic turned a simple idea into a cultural milestone.
A Crisis, A Flight, and a Scribbled Tune
Back in 1994, Cadbury had a problem. People saw Dairy Milk as something meant for kids — not something adults would buy for themselves. The brand needed a bold reset.
Ogilvy, led by Piyush Pandey, got the call. And when the brief landed on his desk, he was on vacation in the U.S. Still, he caught the next flight back to India. Somewhere mid-air, he pulled out his boarding pass and wrote down a line that would later define an era:
“There’s something so real in everyone.”
When he landed in Bombay, Pandey called in Louis Banks, the legendary jazz musician, to compose the tune. Banks created the melody in 15 minutes flat before dashing off to the airport for another flight.
But Pandey felt the track needed more soul — something Indian, something that made you feel. So he rewrote the lyrics in Hindi, called Shankar Mahadevan to sing them, and just like that, the magic took shape.
The Search for the Perfect “Cadbury Girl”
With the music ready, all that was missing was a face. Pandey didn’t want a model. He wanted someone who looked real — someone who could move with the kind of joy you can’t fake.
Enter Shimona Rashi. She wasn’t a trained dancer or a familiar face in advertising. And that’s exactly why she got the part.
When the cameras rolled at Mumbai’s Brabourne Stadium, there was no choreography, no retakes. Shimona just ran, twirled, and laughed like no one was watching — chocolate in hand, heart wide open.
That one-take performance became history.
When India Fell in Love With Joy (and Chocolate)
When the ad aired, India couldn’t get enough. People hummed the tune, replayed the dance in their heads, and suddenly, Dairy Milk wasn’t just for kids anymore.
“It was a game changer,” said Prakash Nair, Associate President at Ogilvy & Mather. “Cadbury became a symbol of joy — not just a treat, but a feeling.”
The campaign swept every major award in advertising, even being named “Campaign of the Century” at the Advertising Club Bombay’s Abby Awards. But its biggest win was emotional — it made chocolate and happiness timeless.
The Comeback That Honored a Classic
In 2020, Ogilvy reimagined the ad with a fresh twist — this time, a young man ran onto the field to celebrate a female cricketer’s winning shot.
The campaign had Pandey’s blessing, but with one non-negotiable rule: “Do not change the music.”
That same melody — written on a boarding pass all those years ago — still tugs at hearts.
A Legacy of Real Emotion
Piyush Pandey wasn’t just an adman. He was a storyteller who found the extraordinary in the ordinary. He made moments feel real — whether it was Fevicol’s “Jor laga ke haisha” or Cadbury’s “Asli swaad zindagi ka.”
And through a carefree girl named Shimona Rashi, he showed us what unfiltered joy looks like — something we still chase today, decades later.
Because some ads sell products. But the best ones? They sell feelings.
