Cadbury Ad of Yesteryears with Amitabh Bachan
Video Courtesy: YouTube
Remember this Cadbury advertisement in which Amitabh gifts a Cadbury pack to his friend on Diwali. This Ad, and many more like this on the same theme, eventually pervaded the Indian aspirational mind, (with an aim to replace traditional mithai boxes with Cadbury choclate), which had a customary desire to gift something "meetha" on auspicious occasions for "muh meetha karna/ karana" by gifting mithai.
This marketing campaign was very successful and is directly responsible for Cadbury controlling 70% of the Indian market.
'Meetha' is considered a mandatory 'shagun' on any happy occasion along with the customary words like "Badhai, Congratulations, etc". Cadbury took full advantage of this Indian custom to drive sales. Nothing wrong with that, I guess. It is we the people who are at fault for not changing our customs with changing times. Why do we need to change this old custom is the question?
A 2025 study highlighted on the reputed Lancet.com website found that Diabetes prevalence among adults aged 45 years and older in India was 19·8%, which amounted to 50·4 million people. Prevalence among men and women was similar. Urban diabetes prevalence was approximately twice as high as rural prevalence; 30% in urban vs 15% in rural areas.
I am sure that there are multiple factors at play, like sedentary lifestyle, diet (consisting of excessive carbohydrates, inadequate proteins, fats, & fibre), and consumption of sugars in multiple forms, including mithai & choclates.
Can we change our custom of gifting mithai/ choclate, etc in bulk to reduce the impact of sugars on our well being? Even cereals, energy drinks, aerated drinks, packaged juices contain large amounts of sugar. Can we start working on ways & means to reduce the prevelance of diabetes in our homes? Any ideas?
Any other custom that needs change? Your suggestions are welcome.
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