Swiggy serves mango-scented ad on the front page

Summers in India are synonymous with the King of Fruits - mango. On Sunday morning, Mumbaikars woke up to the quintessential summery scent of mangoes delivered to their houses along with their newspapers. The front page of the city edition of Times of India (Sunday Times) didn’t just display pictures of plump and juicy mangoes, it also smelt like a basketful of mangoes. 

The copy of the advertisement simply read, “Read this ad with your nose”. The innovative use of synesthesia, a sensory overload making use of multiple senses at the same time, was meant to tempt the readers into buying the mangoes. As they flipped to the next page, they saw a whole range of mangoes that could be made available to them in the next ten minutes by Swiggy Instamart along with a QR code tied with a discount, making the nudge to buy the mangoes that much stronger. 

“With this campaign, we wanted to go beyond traditional advertising and create a sensory experience that ignites the senses and brings the joy of mango season directly to our customers. By tapping into the powerful concept of Synesthesia, we're able to evoke the essence of fresh mangoes, but also help users fix their cravings in an instant by ordering on Swiggy Instamart,” said Ashwath Swaminathan, the Chief Growth and Marketing Officer of Swiggy.

The ad evoked many responses on social media, with some users talking about repeatedly sniffing their copies of the newspaper. The question, “Did you read today’s paper?” was replaced by “Did you smell the paper today?”. 

If you've missed it - our @SwiggyInstamart team did something crazy :)

Thrilled to reveal our "scented" print ad in today’s Sunday Times, infusing Mumbai's papers with the irresistible aroma of fresh mangoes. A truly innovative sensory experience :)

You can't not crave a mango… pic.twitter.com/BntzLvhUN8

— Phani Kishan A (@phanikishan) June 2, 2024