In 2015, a cheeky 30-second television spot achieved what most advertisers only aspire to: it embedded itself in everyday Indian conversation. The setup was simple—two soldiers at the India-Pakistan border, a casual question, and a three-word punchline that would echo across the country for years.
“Aur janaab, kya chal raha hai?” asks the Pakistani officer with a grin.
“Janaab, Hindustan mein toh Fogg chal raha hai,” replies the Indian soldier.
Within weeks, the four words, “Fogg chal raha hai”, had escaped the confines of commercial breaks. Shopkeepers used the phrase with customers, while students adopted it in college corridors. It found its way into a Gulzar play, Himachali folk songs, and even national news broadcasts. When asked how things were going, the response was no longer “fine”, but “Fogg chal raha hai”.
Eight years on, in 2023, the campaign made a triumphant return during the Indian Premier League, once again entering the nation’s cultural vocabulary.
The campaign's success was particularly striking given how sharply it broke from industry norms. In 2015, the Indian deodorant market largely followed a familiar formula: attractive models, sexual innuendo, and the implicit promise that one spray could transform one’s romantic prospects. Most campaigns adhered closely to this approach, making the new campaign’s fresh, humorous tone all the more remarkable.
Fogg, founded by entrepreneur Darshanbhai Patel, adopted a radically different approach. Its unique selling proposition was not ‘desirability’ but ‘value’. The pitch – “No gas, 800 sprays” – emphasised a pure perfume concentrate without propellant filler, offering significantly more uses per bottle than competing products.
The challenge lay in making efficiency feel exciting. Patel turned to The Womb, a creative agency founded in 2015 by Ogilvy veterans Navin Talreja and Kawal Shoor. Together, they developed a campaign that prioritised cultural resonance over conventional sexual appeal.
Their insight centred on a phrase every Indian already knew: “Kya chal raha hai?” – an informal Hindi greeting meaning “What’s happening?” or “What’s up?” In Hindi, however, “chal raha hai” carries multiple layers of meaning. It can signify that something is popular, that it is working well, or simply that it is happening. When the soldier says “Fogg chal raha hai,” he is simultaneously declaring that Fogg is trending, successful, and current. That is the beauty of the Hindi language.
Directed by filmmaker Remzil D’Silva, the campaign produced multiple spots built around this central conceit. In one particularly memorable follow-up, a bewildered middle-aged man receives the same cryptic response from a group of teenagers, highlighting how the phrase had spread across generations and demographics.
Several factors combined to make the campaign a cultural phenomenon. First, timing: the border ad aired during a period of heightened India-Pakistan attention in the media, when audiences were receptive to humour that acknowledged context without being overtly political. The joke was playful rather than harsh, a knowing wink rather than a provocation.
Second, accessibility: the humour required no specialised knowledge beyond familiarity with a common Hindi phrase. Unlike campaigns built around cricket references or urban slang, “Fogg chal raha hai” resonated with everyone, from metro cities to smaller towns, and from teenagers to middle-aged audiences.
Third, memetic efficiency: at just three words, the tagline was instantly repeatable and endlessly adaptable. When rain delayed cricket matches, fans tweeted “Fogg chal raha hai.” When Delhi’s winter fog grew particularly dense, social media filled with “Fogg chal raha hai” jokes. The brand had achieved something rare in advertising, the phrase had taken on a life beyond its commercial purpose.
Importantly, Fogg did not attempt to control this organic spread. The company allowed the culture to take ownership of the phrase, letting it evolve through memes, jokes, and everyday conversation. This restraint proved crucial: while attempts to force virality often backfire, allowing a phrase room to breathe can transform it into genuine cultural currency.
By 2023, the original campaign had faded from active rotation. However, as cricket fever built ahead of the Asia Cup and IPL season, The Womb and Fogg identified an opportunity to reintroduce the tagline to a new generation of viewers.
“Border 2.0” reunited the original actors and recreated the border scenario with minimal changes. The decision to essentially remake the same ad was risky. Sequels often feel desperate, and nostalgia plays can backfire. But the gamble paid off for several reasons.
For one, the core joke remained relevant. The India-Pakistan context had not fundamentally changed, and the border setting still conveyed the same blend of tension and familiarity. More importantly, a large portion of the IPL’s young audience had never seen the original ads; for them, this was less a rerun and more a discovery.
Fogg committed heavily to the IPL platform, becoming the second-largest new advertiser by volume during the 2023 season. The spots aired across national and regional channels during high-stakes matches, including India vs. Pakistan games during the Asia Cup. The saturation strategy ensured maximum visibility during moments of peak viewership and emotional engagement.
The revival proved successful. Social media buzzed with “Fogg chal raha hai” references, and the phrase re-entered everyday conversation. One 2023 spot even featured Talreja himself on camera – a meta moment that acknowledged the campaign’s iconic status while keeping the humour fresh.
The Fogg campaign offers several lessons for brands navigating India’s complex media landscape. First, cultural fluency can outweigh production budgets or celebrity endorsements. By anchoring the campaign in a phrase already embedded in everyday conversation, Fogg achieved instant familiarity. The ads required no explanation, as they spoke a language viewers already understood.
Second, not every campaign needs to rely on aspiration. While much of Indian advertising continues to lean on aspirational imagery, Fogg succeeded by engaging audiences where they already were. The border setting was instantly familiar, the dialogue felt natural, and the humour was accessible rather than exclusive.
Third, the campaign demonstrated the power of linguistic playfulness in multilingual markets. The double meaning of “chal raha hai” works only in Hindi, yet this specificity became a strength rather than a limitation. It gave Hindi-speaking audiences a sense of ownership—the joke was for them, in their language, and rooted in their cultural reference points.
Finally, Fogg demonstrated that restraint can be a powerful marketing tool. By refraining from over-explaining the joke, avoiding immediate saturation across every media channel, and allowing audiences to interpret the phrase freely, the brand encouraged organic cultural adoption. The tagline spread because it was genuinely useful and humorous, not because it was aggressively promoted.
Today, nearly a decade after the first border ad aired, “Fogg chal raha hai” remains instantly recognisable across India. The phrase has outlasted the typical lifespan of advertising, enduring in the cultural memory long after most campaigns have faded.
For the broader advertising industry, the Fogg campaign represents a shift in how brands can achieve cultural relevance in India’s evolving media landscape. As audiences become increasingly fragmented and resistant to advertising, traditional playbooks are delivering diminishing returns.
Fogg demonstrated an alternative path: identify a phrase people already use, give it new meaning, and trust your audience to carry it forward. The company did more than advertise a product, it added a new entry to India’s everyday lexicon.
Whether or not Fogg deodorant sits in your bathroom cabinet, chances are you have uttered the phrase. In advertising, that level of cultural penetration is not merely success; it is a form of near-permanence.