Pitching it straight

Alcohol companies are increasingly bypassing traditional television advertising to reach audiences

The story of liquor brands and advertising in India has always played out like a hide-and-seek adventure; given the tough laws around alcohol ads, companies had mastered the art of pushing the brand while keeping their core product under wraps. Customers and companies knew what the brand was all about and the regulators were happy that the rules were being followed. Over the past couple of years, however, Kingfisher, Seagram and a host of other liquor companies have found a way to make such rules redundant by reaching out directly to their core audiences via short films on digital content