Cadbury Dairy Milk recreates its iconic stadium advertisement, with a wonderful twist

• In 1994, confectionery giant Cadbury Dairy Milk launched an iconic commercial featuring model Shimona Rashi dancing unabashedly in a cricket stadium full of people.
• As a tribute to women athletes, the chocolate brand has recreated its iconic advertisement.
• It aims to celebrate and cheer women and girls who are making spectacular success stories and emerging as powerful role models for the youth.

Confectionary giant’s Cadbury Dairy Milk iconic advertisement from 1994 featuring model Shimona Rashi dancing unabashedly in a cricket stadium full of people is still so fresh in our minds like it was launched just yesterday. That advertisement came at a time when all women in ads were prim, proper and petite. They were either scantily dressed or playing the role of a mother, taking care of a joint family -- just existing in the background. And here she was, Shimona in Cadbury’s ad, dressed in a regular blue floral dress, munching on a Cadbury chocolate bar on the sidelines of a cricket match like nobody is watching.

We still haven’t been able to get over her running past security onto the field and breaking into an adorable victory dance with the “asli swaad zindagi ka” jingle, made unforgettable by singer Shankar Mahadevan, playing in the background. It was also a critical moment for Cadbury as it was trying to reposition the brand into the market. Its purpose was to change the perception that chocolates are only for children.

With this iconic advertisement, Cadbury Dairy Milk changed the chocolate industry completely and expanded its reach. At that time, when all advertisements sold the products directly with an in-your-face approach, Piyush Pandey’s one advertisement challenged common perception and had a revolutionary impact on how ads were made as the commercial barely had a few glimpses of the chocolate itself.

It’s 2021 and the brand and Ogilvy India have brought back the time, this time with a fun twist. The giant has reversed the advertisement and this time, a man performs a candid, adorable celebratory dance to cheer his friend/partner. It reminds us how there’s a little child inside every adult. It aims to celebrate and cheer women and girls who are making spectacular success stories and emerging as powerful role models for the youth.

Commenting on the campaign, Anil Viswanathan, Senior Director – Marketing, Mondelez India, said, “From acing in the corporate world to winning Olympic medals, women are at the forefront of creating new milestones, every single day and our film is an ode to each one of them. As a brand that has always promoted gender inclusivity, contemporizing an iconic campaign is our way of recognizing the changing times and extending support to all the women trailblazers. An extension of our ongoing generosity narrative, the film also lands the message of how taking small yet significant steps to acknowledge the achievements of women would make the world a better place to live in. We hope this film brings back a gush of nostalgia and are confident that this refreshed version will find as much love as the original one."


The film conceptualized by Ogilvy India, for Mondelez India, shows a young woman cricketer scoring a winning run and her male friend running towards the field dancing with unabashed glee, celebrating her smashing performance, as the crowd cheers on. The film ends with the powerful message of #GoodLuckGirls in recognition of today’s equal world where women are breaking barriers and pursuing all their dreams.

Brains behind the first ad and second, Piyush Pandey, Chairman of Global Creative & Executive Chairman, India, said, “It needed a brave client back in 1993 to go ahead with the original Cadbury Cricket film that became so popular. It needed an even braver client to attempt something with an iconic film and make magic out of it. I am delighted that the team at Mondelez India and at Ogilvy India has done this magic, made it relevant, exciting, and so Cadbury, in its bold and front foot fashion.”

Sukesh Nayak, Harshad Rajadhyaksha and Kainaz Karmakar, Chief Creative Officers, Ogilvy India, added, “The excitement and the stress in our heads were competing with each other. To recreate such a big hit is like setting yourself up for a million opinions. The only reason we went ahead was it felt right, and it felt awesome. We loved the idea from our gut. Luckily, so did the client. Hats off to the all girls’ team who thought of it and hats off to Bob from Good Morning Films for making it so well.”

The advertisement won over a million hearts with simple yet appealing storytelling in the ’90s and it is back to win our hearts yet again.