A sharp look at how advertising today prioritizes entertainment over sales, sparking debate on creativity, strategy, and real business impact. Has the Big ‘E’ Overwhelmed the Big ‘S’ in Today’s Adville? Monojit Lahiri probes this tricky terrain.

In today’s fast-paced advertising landscape, the growing obsession with entertainment is overshadowing the core purpose of ads—driving sales. This article explores how modern campaigns often prioritize viral appeal and cinematic flair over strategic messaging and product relevance. With insights from industry veterans and creative directors, it questions whether the shift from selling to storytelling is diluting brand effectiveness. Discover why balancing creativity with commerce is essential for long-term brand success and why advertising must refocus on influencing purchase intent over merely grabbing eyeballs. 

“I laugh so that I may not weep, Boss,” exclaimed my learned friend the other evening at a party. My quizzical expression inspired him to elaborate. “What’s with you ad guys, yaar? Why are you so parasitically (in most cases) in Bollywood’s vice-grip, crazily anxious to only entertain your customers in the hope of making a sale? It’s so dumb, unimaginative, and indicative of a total bankruptcy of ideas!” Before I could react, another friend (of the marketing kind) very sweetly chipped in, “Yup, he’s spot-on! Entertain by all means but don’t let that drive your ads, for chrissake! You have an agenda, and it’s not entertaining but selling stuff, powering the purchase intent. If I want entertainment, I’ll see that mindless Bollywood crap, not ads, okay? Get real and focused, guys!”  

  

When the Party Ends, the Thinking Begins

Having successfully ruined my mood, these two killjoys got busy having a blast! However, their words set me thinking, and soon I got chatting with some players from Adland. Were these flamboyant accusations really true?

First up was a Creative Director who summarily dismissed these claims with all the arrogance of a successful and high-flying 30-year-old who’s worked with some of the best and biggest ad shops, clients, and brands. “Tell the bozos that our job in these scary and competitive times is to—first—grab attention through surprise and delight… not bore the pants off the viewer with a zzzzzz… recitation of facts and figures! It’s a fast-moving and promiscuous world, and the Remote is a killer gadget. The challenge is to keep his/her hands off that deadly object! What better solution than to sell through the entertainment route?”

Agrees Kaushik Sen, Creative Director at Impact Marketing Services, “All sane communication people know that the ‘Big E’ is the coolest hotline to a mass-connect; the great leveller that cuts across every social stratum and literacy barrier. The age of being propah’ and politically correct is over. Films, songs, books, catchphrases, news, events, happenings… we are forever contextualising and borrowing from real life, packaging them in an entertaining manner and letting them loose on our prospective consumers. It’s exciting, fun… and it works. Trust me.”

But... At What Cost?

Really? Questions blitzed the brain! Wasn’t entertainment meant to be an engagingly creative route, but only a means to an end, not the end itself? Are prizes, metals, and gongs at high-profile national and global ad events the cause of this distracting bypass? Has today’s advertising become too self-absorbed, drawing too much attention to itself and too little to closing the deal? Has it become a high-wire act with the glam, media-hyped creative biggies (not clients or market forces) playing judge, jury, and star attraction? Has the ‘S’ word (sell) become too boring, passé, unfashionable, and déclassé and hence the search for something new, shiny, sexy?  

I posed some of these queries to a veteran Adman, a hugely respected name across the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s. He was cool, objective, and brought both gravitas and a sober perspective to this issue. “Let’s face it. There has always been one section of ad guys (arty, over-smart, fake, desperately anxious to make an impression at any party) who made it their prime business to enthral their clients through entertainment. On cue, they got their wows and frequently the business. Problem was: what next? This is a short-term hit because it’s not driven by solid strategy. I’ve always believed that if the hero of your ad is not the product but the treatment (gimmick), you are in trouble because you have no solid follow-up. Worse, the ad is remembered, but the product forgotten!”  

The Double-Edged Sword of Entertainment

So, what’s my modest take-out? In a stress-driven world where entertainment is increasingly viewed as welcome therapy, where our movie-making technology is world-class, entertainment (as a selling route) ironically can work as a double-edged sword. How? Why? It’s like this. Due to fabulous technology and brilliantly trained technicians, stunningly crafted TVCs are forever blitzing the target group with a high level of engagement, but (and this is critical) do they impact mindset, alter beliefs, inspire change or motivate purchase-intent-instinct towards the product advertised? Does the gasp, delight, surprise, and raves about “how kickass entertaining the ad is, boss!” translate to any kind of desire to buy? This is the real litmus test.

Final Word: Selling Still Reigns

Advertising is finally a commercial, marketing-driven, sale-inducing activity. Ha-ha is fine, but only if it is a conduit to the central motive. Entertainment ke liye kuch bhi karega works in Bollywood, but in Adville, it can be Do din ki chandni, phir ghor andhera!!