4 Times Indian Brands Absolutely Went For Each Other’s Throats

Indian brands don’t always play nice. Here are 4 times they went completely brutal on each other and why it worked.

Current advertising competition is cutthroat. We see small businesses take shots at each other indirectly and mock their competitors. But what if I tell you this phenomenon is “Not New” and there were times when big brands went brutal on their competitors? And we are not talking about subliminal diss. The most direct and brutal way.

Here are 4 incidents where “Indian Giants” like HUL, Sebamed, The Hindu, and PepsiCo India literally went brutal on their competitors.

1. Rin vs. Tide (Rin Went Brutal)

Okay, so this one is genuinely legendary, and I think about it more than I should.

February 2010. I was around 10 years old, watching television casually with my family when HUL’s Rin pulled this TV commercial where a kid using Rin turns to his neighbour and goes, “Aunty chaunk kyun gayi?”

Now if you know Tide’s famous tagline “Chaunk Gaye,” you already know the ad is not subtle. And as if this were not enough, Rin pulled out a male voiceover that said, “Tide Se Kayi Behtar Safedi De Rin, aur Ab Woh Bhi Chaukane Wale Daamon Mein.”

This ad was a full frontal attack. Rin literally named Tide in the ad on national television.

Not only was the concept of the ad calculated, but also the time when it was aired. HUL timed this release over a long court weekend on purpose, knowing P&G could not get an emergency injunction for at least three days.

They let the ad run on a loop the entire weekend to do maximum damage before any legal intervention was possible.

P&G eventually dragged HUL to the Calcutta High Court. But the damage? Already done. Rin had made its point and the whole country had seen it.

This was not marketing. This was a calculated ambush.

Youtube Video Link of the ad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msczklmNj6E

2. Times of India vs. The Hindu (Hindu mocked smartly)

The Times of India decided it wanted a piece of Chennai, which is basically The Hindu’s home ground. Bold move.

Their opening shot? An ad saying readers are “stuck with news that puts you to sleep” with the punchline “Wake up to the Times of India.” They did not name The Hindu, but come on. Everyone knew exactly who they were talking about.

The Hindu sat quietly for three months. And then absolutely demolished them.

They ran a campaign showing youngsters who could not answer basic general knowledge questions but knew every piece of celebrity gossip. And when they were asked which newspaper they read, everyone answered with the name “Times of India.”

However, the mentioning was bleeped, but come on, everyone could read their lips. Then, The Hindu dropped the tagline “Stay Ahead of the Times”, which is genuinely one of the coldest responses in Indian advertising history.

TOI then ran a print ad congratulating The Hindu for “finally waking up to the Times of India”.

Two of India’s most respected institutions basically spent months roasting each other in public. Readers were eating popcorn.

Youtube Video Link of the ad: https://youtu.be/4Eb-waHx-00?si=pp9-FjCEsR-W_Kog

3. Sebamed vs. HUL: The Billboard Parked Outside HUL’s Own Office

In January 2021, Sebamed did something that takes a special kind of confidence.

They put up a giant billboard comparing the pH levels of Dove, Lux, and Pears to Rin, HUL’s own detergent brand. They claimed that these bathing soaps were basically as harsh as washing powder.

And they put this billboard right outside HUL’s headquarters in Mumbai.

HUL sprinted to the Bombay High Court. What made it even more delicious is that Dove has literally built its entire brand identity on pH testing and mildness claims, using the litmus paper thing in its ads for years. Sebamed essentially beat them with their own weapon.

The court eventually let Sebamed continue most of its campaign. The billboard stayed up. The message had already reached millions.

Youtube Video Link of the ad: https://youtu.be/9iQHn3f-MUQ?si=DpiPkEszeQ1lQauc

4. PepsiCo India vs. Coca-Cola (Pepsi, Coca-Cola, and World Cup)

The Pepsi vs. Coca-Cola rivalry is not new. However, the Indian audience witnessed the rivalry in 1996 and is somehow still going.

Pepsi lost the official sponsorship of the Cricket World Cup to Coke and responded with a campaign called “Nothing Official About It”, roping in Sachin Tendulkar and positioning themselves as the cooler, unbothered brand. It worked brilliantly.

Fast forward to 2025. Coca-Cola runs a “Half Time” campaign around the ICC Champions Trophy. Pepsi’s response? They buy a full-page front cover of the Times of India, temporarily rename it “Any Times of India”, and launch a campaign saying, “Why wait for half-time when it is always Pepsi time?”

The Times of India even changed its masthead for the day. Pepsi turned a rival’s entire campaign into a setup for their own punchline.

Nearly 30 years of the same fight, and Pepsi is still finding new ways to throw the first punch.

Youtube Video Link of the ad: https://youtu.be/e4Bel06glNU?si=e0pwXvILxf5HWZnn

Indian brand rivalries are genuinely some of the most entertaining marketing you will ever study. Honestly, behind every “professionally worded” campaign brief, someone in a boardroom definitely said, "Let's just go after them.”

Which one was your favourite? Drop it in the comments.