Shark Tank India's new ad roasts India's toxic corporate culture
In the Indian corporate life, where work-life balance is often treated as a mythical concept and 70-hour work weeks are pitched as the ultimate duty, brand campaigns are calling out the absurdity. Not with angry editorials or workplace surveys, but with satire that makes you laugh while making you think.
Shark Tank India has returned for its fifth season, and this time, it launched a campaign that's as much social commentary as it is television promotion. The show's latest registration drive takes a satirical approach to one of India's most pressing workplace conversations, using humour to highlight what many employees experience but rarely discuss openly.
Conceptualised and executed by Moonshot, the ad campaign opens with what appears to be genuine concern from millionaire CEOs and business leaders. These fictional executives are shown lamenting their "first world problems" in exaggerated interview-style segments. One CEO complains about how employee departures have forced him to actually show up to the office every day. While another expresses discontent over having to carry his own golf clubs because his employee, who used to assist with this crucial task, has quit to launch a startup.
The ad then takes a particularly pointed jab at one of India's most controversial workplace discussions. The voiceover transitions to promote a solution that sounds increasingly dystopian: working overtime for 70 hours a week, a clear reference to Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy's much-debated comments about young Indians needing to work longer hours. The ad pushes this concept to its logical extreme, suggesting employees should work even during their most important life milestones, including weddings and perhaps even death, until artificial intelligence eventually replaces them entirely.
The genius lies in the campaign's use of reverse psychology. Instead of directly encouraging people to register for Shark Tank India, it begins by asking them to do the opposite: stay loyal to their millionaire bosses who, as the ad suggests, don't particularly care about their well-being.
The use of satire serves a dual purpose: it highlights the absurdity of extreme work culture while positioning entrepreneurship as a viable alternative to being trapped in this cycle.
The show explored similar themes of workplace exploitation and entrepreneurial liberation for its "Corporate Bidaai" campaign for Season 3, also created by the agency Moonshot. The aim of this advertisement is to encourage people to stream on Sony LIV and air on Sony Entertainment Television, and inform them that registrations are now open exclusively on Sony LIV.
Since its launch in 2021, Shark Tank India has become more than just a television show; it has evolved into a cultural phenomenon that has impacted India's startup ecosystem. According to Sony, it has featured over 741 pitches, 351 deals, and Rs 293 crore in funding across its previous seasons.
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