The Red Ad That Had Everyone Asking: Which Brand Is This?

That's the message readers saw in a full-page advertisement in The Times of India today.

The entire ad is filled with red and white, but one key element is missing, there’s no logo, Not in the center, Not at the top or bottom corner of the page.

 

That brand published the ad with much conviction that people would recognize it right away

 

But that wasn't the case. Many people couldn't identify the brand.

 

The internet turned into a puzzle, everyone trying to figure out which brand published the ad. The bank statement line made some people think it was an ad from Kotak or HSBC, while others thought it might be Coca-cola, Redbus, or even Kelloggs because of the color palette. Many agreed that they had no idea.

 

In the end, it turned out the birthday ad was from Zomato as it was their 18th anniversary. People could not recognize it probably because the colors looked slightly different in the final print version.

 

For users with the app, however, the mystery was short lived. Zomato had already sent a push notification announcing a minimum discount of Rs 180 to celebrate its 18th anniversary. Everyone else was left piecing together clues or relying on someone else's guess.

 

Not Zomato's first red-only campaign

 

This isn't the first time Zomato has relied on its signature red to grab attention. Last month, the food delivery platform published a mostly blank red full page ad in Delhi Times to promote its Month End Carnival. The large red block was designed to reflect how many people's bank balances look at the end of the month, without prominently displaying the brand name.

 

The recent social media posts closely resembled that ad in both timing and style, leading many people to believe they were connected to the campaign. If those posts were part of a paid collaboration or creator campaign, audiences shouldn't have to guess that either.

While the print ad challenged people to identify the brand, the social posts sparked a different question: were the reactions genuine, or were they sponsored?