Old Indian Ads Nataraj pencil TV ad 1991: Times of 1991: Infosys Recruitment Ad: Rs 3,750 per month salary

Infosys was one of the earliest software companies to feature full page advertisements in newspapers for walk-in interviews. This following is an ad from the Mumbai edition of Times of India calling for “64 brilliant young engineers” offering them promising careers with a starting salary of Rs 3,750 per month. The walk-in interviews were held at Leela Kempinski which witnessed a chaotic crowd of more than 1500 engineers resulting in unintentional damage to the Hotel premises including breaking of glass panels. Narayana Murthy still remembers those details very well because the company had to pay for the glass and other damages: http://www.outlookbusiness.com/a rticle_v3.aspx?artid=282860 1985: Maggi noodles TV ads

Fast to cook, Good to eat: Maggi & Cricket: https://youtu.be/d6iwnkG46IY https://youtu.be/rmcJ5nq3XJ4

Mummy I am hungry: https://youtu.be/1Jdj5hcvGYE 1984: BJP election campaign Vote the right candidate in today. Ram Jethmalani: Bombay North-West. An able parliamentarian and a leading constitutional lawer. Always in the forefront to safeguard the rights of weaker sections. A man of character and integrity. One who really worked for his constituency. Jaywanthisen Mehta: Bombay South. A corporator from Bhuleshwar. A sitting MLA from Opera House. Takes up every important issue in her constituency and sees it through to the end. Now wants to extend the scope of her activities. Pramod Mahajan: Bombay North-East. A fire-brand youth leader who is a force to reckon with. A man who believes in action, not mere promises. Organisation is his main forte. One of the youngest candidates to contest for the . Jagannath Patil: Thane. Few people have done more for the down-trodden of this country than Mr. J. Patil. A man who has fought for the freedom of press, and ensured that his constituency was always heard in parliament – he now stands before you. Principal Manohar Joshi: Bombay Central North. Has served the city of Bombay with distinction for eleven years – including the office of Mayor. Among his many achievements, Principal Joshi, initiated the “Clean Bombay – Green Bombay” drive and established the “Zunaka Bhakar kendra” – offering meals for just 50 paise. Wamanrao Mahadik: Bombay South Central. Is an active supporter of the working class. In his 17 years experience as a corporator, he has done much for the down-trodden and hutment dwellers, and is fondly known to them as “Appa”. A diligent, honest and forceful worker, he is a force to reckon with. Vote BJP Clean. Competent. Committed. 1980: Lady Zodiac Panties 1980: Cock matches 1980: Kashmir Tourism 1980: Kashmir Tourism 1980: Kashmir Tourism 1979: NP 007 Bubble Gum 1979: NP 007 Bubble Gum 1977: Post Emergency Indian Election Campaign 1977: Post Emergency Indian Election Campaign 1977: Sensational escape of Subramaniam Swamy: Manohar Kahaniyan

Listen to it directly from Subramaniam Swamy in a recent interview: https://youtu.be/GiNstP82UrA 1978: Thums Up – Happy days are here again 1979: Bank of Maharashtra (Govt of India undertaking)

Highly controversial ad with religious overtones sponsored by Government of India in 1979. This advertisement had not gone down well with minority communities who had felt that the non-Congress Government headed by Morarji Desai (in coalition with right wing parties led by LK Advani, Subramanian Swamy etc) was insensitive towards minorities. 1976: Sterilization Ad Banners & Price Chart 1979: Linoleum floor covering 1977: Minti 1975: Increase height to increase lifespan

Back in the 1970s, people thought lifespan was proportional to height. These fly-by-night agencies published such full page ads promising increase in height (Height gain guaranteed) for around Rs 60. The modus operandi was to receive payment, send a tiny booklet containing a few stretch & aerobics. When the gullible customer realized that he has been fooled, he could do nothing because these were bogus companies which would vanish within a week and again come up with a new name, with new ads & new “promises”. 1976: London Computer Programmer 1973: Maneka DCM Bathing Towel

Former Indian Prime Minister ’s daughter-in-law Maneka Gandhi (Menaka Gandhi) was a fashion model who had appeared in bathing towel ads, which were considered a taboo those days. When Indira’s son fell in love with Menaka and wanted to marry her, there was fierce opposition from the Gandhi family (Indira, Rajiv & Sonia) because they thought Menaka’s bathing towel ads were obscene & her fashion modelling career would bring disgrace to the family. Even after Menaka promised to give up her modelling career, the Gandhi family were not ready to accept her. They suspected her intentions and thought true to her name, she was like a “Menaka” (celestial nymph as per hindu mythology), trying to lure Sanjay and sneak her way into the most powerful political family of India. Finally, after lot of persuasion from Sanjay, Indira agreed on the condition that Menaka had to change her name to Maneka and the marriage was finalized. 1975: Wills Flake 1973: Coca Cola India – It’s the real thing 1975: Cadbury’s nut mate 1976: Adult Games 1975: Emergency Outdoor Billboards 1972: Usha sewing machine to train to be an ideal housewife 1970: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)

In 1968, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) was established as a small division of Tata Sons Ltd to provide technology & general consulting services to its sister companies like TISCO & Tata Motors. Soon, the company started offering services to other companies & national projects undertaken by Govt of India. In 1970, TCS bagged a project to design transmission towers for the national grid system. 1967: Shiv Sena Political Ad 1971: Cadbury’s 5-Star ad 1970 print ad of IBM India 1970: IBM India 1970: IBM India In 1951, with an eye on modernizing India using technology, Prime Minister welcomed IBM. With a manufacturing facility at Mumbai, the company partnered with several Govt organizations Over the next 2 decades, the company by deploying their giant computers which made inroads into several private & required trucks for transportation & delivery. educational entities as well with a variety of electronic products including personal computers, storage devices, typewriters & printers under the “THINK” catchphrase. 1970: IBM India

In 1978, when the Janata Party Govt implemented an act which required foreign companies to dilute their stake in their Indian subsidiaries to just 26% and disclose all their trade secrets, IBM refused to oblige and quit India. The manufacturing facilities were shut down and all the computer maintenance operations were transferred to an Indian company called CMC (‘Computer Management Corporation) which later became CMC Ltd (Computer Maintenance Corporation Limited). When the economy was liberalized in early 1990s, IBM entered India with the help of Tata under a new company called “Tata Information Systems Ltd”, later shortened to “ Tata-IBM” and eventually “IBM India” in 1997 as a 100% subsidiary of IBM. 1972: Lakme Lip Colours 1972: The Cinthol Promise 1972: HMT Watches 1967: Congress Political Ad 1960: Come to South India (Tourism) 1954: Aey Gee Bros Brassiere 1950: Parle Gluco Cola 1950: Parle Gluco Cola

Parle was the first Indian company to launch a cola drink in India and it was marketed as a drink for the health conscious because it had “zero caffeine”. Since Parle was already popular for its “Gluco” biscuits, it launched the new cola drink under the brand name “Gluco Cola” in 1949. The above print ad was created by none other than RK Laxman himself!! This was one of his earliest assignments back in the early 1950s, much before he gained fame as a renowned cartoonist. 1952: Congress Nehru Election Campaign 1952: Congress Nehru Election Campaign 1952: Congress Nehru Election Campaign 1952: Congress Nehru Election Campaign 1967: Rajdoot Motorcycles 1950: 7 O’Clock 1965: “TV Drive-in Bank” by Indian Overseas Bank 1950: Rex Squashes & Syrups 1960: Tiger Govt Tourism Ad 1950: Young India Watch 1943: Ovanil Birth Control 1941: First Indian Woman in Lux Ad

In 1941, Leela Chitnis became the first Indian woman to be featured in Lux ad. Until then, it was an honor reserved only for foreign women. 1941: First Indian Woman in Lux Ad 1947: Tea is 100% Swadeshi 1947: Mentmore Fountain Pen 1950: GE Radio 1949: Himalayan Night Service Flights 1935: Indian Tourism 1938: Tea Board of India

After banning toddy and shutting down toddy shops, British Govt in India started promoting Tea as an alternative, stimulant drink in 1920s & 1930. 1941: Burmah Shell 1941: Burmah Shell 1941: Burmah Shell

In 1928, The Burmah-Shell Oil company was established in India as a distributor of Kerosene. The company gradually expanded its operations over the next few years to every nook & corner of the country and introduced petrol pumps, lubricants, aviation fuel and LPG. In 1976, the Burmah Shell Group of Companies was taken over by the Government of India and renamed Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited. 1922: Godrej No 1 soap – Rabindranath Tagore

In 1918, Godrej produced the world’s first vegetable oil soap. It was a major breakthrough because soaps produced by Europeans were generally made of animal fat, which was against the principles of non-violence & in India. In 1919, Godrej used the technique and launched a vegetable oil soap under the brand name “No 2″ on a pilot basis. The reason they named it “No 2″ was to suggest that if No 2 itself was so good, then No 1 would be much better. In 1922, Godrej launched the “No 1″ soap, which was not only better than the predecessor but even outdid European brands. Since the & swadeshi movement by Gandhiji had gained momentum, the vegetable oil soap by Godrej had struck a chord with the masses. Nationalists like Rabindranath Tagore stepped forward to promote the “swadeshi” soap by Godrej. 1928: Mysore Sandal Soap

The State of Karnataka (erstwhile Mysore State) is blessed with high quality Sandalwood vegetation. The Maharaja of Mysore, Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV, who was always on the lookout for opportunities to promote commerce, science & industry in the state, had setup a science team comprising of some of the top scientists & professors of IISc (Indian Institute of Science) in 1916 to develop techniques to extract Sandalwood oil. As soon as the technique for Sandalwood extraction was developed, the Maharaja commissioned a project and delegated the task to Sir M Visvesvaraya to create a new industry altogether, for producing Sandalwood perfumes & soaps. As a result, the Govt Soap Factory was established in 1918 and the soap was sold under the “Mysore Sandal Soap” brand. 1920: Bradford Dyers England: Ganesha Picture 1930: Mysore Sandal Soap 1903: Taj Mahal Palace Hotel Inauguration

In the late 19th century, when Jamsedji Tata was refused entry in Mumbai’s posh hotels because he was an “Indian” (posh hotels were restricted only to “whites” back then), he decided to build a grand hotel for Indians. It was named Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and was inaugurated on 1st December 1903. Tata promoted it as a desi hotel with “Latest Comforts”, “International Standards” & “Moderate Charges” as its USP, with room charges starting from Rs 6. 1930: Washable Condoms 1929: Pears Soap 1932: The Bombay Armoury