Hershey’s Kisses pairs Diwali chaos with AI romance

Hershey’s India has taken its Kisses brand into Diwali with a digital film built on a very Indian festive truth: in a house full of relatives, a couple struggles to find a single private moment. The campaign, created by TBWA Lintas as part of Omnicom Advertising India, was produced entirely using artificial intelligence.

The film extends the brand’s “Giving Kisses Is Hard” platform into a seasonal setting. It follows a couple trying to steal a quiet moment at a crowded Diwali gathering, only to be interrupted repeatedly by family members before they finally share a chocolate. The creative will run across YouTube, social media and connected TV.

01 · Why AI matters, and why it doesn’t

The production choice is both practical and stylistically useful for a digital-first release. But the campaign’s real lever is not the tool; it is the consistency of the brand idea. Hershey’s India did not build a new Diwali message, it gave an existing platform a fresh seasonal expression.

02 · The thinking behind the work

Kamy Devaguptapu, director of marketing, India and APAC at Hershey’s India, said the film captures a familiar festive dilemma: amidst all the festivities, finding a quiet moment with someone special is not always easy.

“Hershey’s Kisses brings this familiar Diwali dilemma to life in its latest film.” — Kamy Devaguptapu, Director of Marketing, India and APAC, Hershey’s India

Tejal Waradkar, executive creative director at TBWA Lintas, added that the agency tapped into the amusing reality of how difficult it can be for couples to steal a moment of intimacy when the entire family is around. The unspoken tension becomes the comedy, and the chocolate becomes the payoff.

03 · Why this matters for brand leaders

Diwali is one of the most crowded advertising windows in India. Most festive ads chase celebration; this one chases a specific moment of friction. For CMOs, that is the difference between a famous campaign and a forgettable greeting.

• Extend, don’t replace: use the brand’s existing platform as the spine of seasonal work.
• Make the interruption the insight: family proximity is a real, relatable tension.
• Let AI serve the idea: the production tool is secondary to the human truth.

04 · The marketing take

Hershey’s Kisses becomes culturally relevant for Diwali not by becoming a mithai or a gift, but by giving couples the quiet moment the festival keeps taking away. The tension is the ad; the product is the release. That is a platform lesson worth carrying into the next festive season.

Source: ETBrandEquity.com

Mad About Marketing Desk The strategists and writers at Mad About Marketing, writing up what we see in the work every week.