The Santoor Ad Saga

One question I always end up asking consumers (and the occasional new joiner or intern) during one-on-one interactions is to recall their favorite Santoor ad. More often than not, their recall goes straight back to something they watched in their tweens. Mine does too. And I have a feeling my son will remember one just as vividly.

This isn’t a coincidence. Advertising that resonates during this critical, formative period is often encoded as an autobiographical memory.

What’s striking is how little the Santoor narrative structure has changed over nearly four decades: mistaken identity > the “Mummy” reveal > shock. It’s so familiar that the average Indian can often predict the twist in a new ad well before it lands. Yet this very repetition has quietly etched a deep neural groove. The insight and the clever twist act as emotional anchors, creating implicit memories that carry forward into adulthood. Even when the specific details of the ad fade from conscious recall, the positive association remains.

Another fascinating thing Santoor has done is reconstruct the memory of the “Mummy” (and the “woman”) archetype for millions of Indian women (and men) every few years. While the woman herself has evolved, the underlying emotional schema has remained intact: caring, relatable, and confident, yet admired and respected.

I feel particularly fortunate to work on this brand today, memory-hacking the current generation. When a consumer brings up a campaign I’ve worked on, it becomes clear: these aren’t just ads being remembered; they’re memories being formed – ones the next generation will look back on when they think about beauty, motherhood, and themselves. And that is a lot of responsibility.