The emergence of Hinglish in advertising, Bollywood, and everyday life in India

But even in these early decades, the seeds of resistance were quietly sown. As academic Aditya Roy points out in his book chapter Selling Swadeshi: Advertising and Nationalism in Modern India (2022), the Swadeshi movement recognised the political power of advertising. Indian-owned businesses, particularly in the early 20th century, began to use advertisements not just to market goods, but to signal allegiance to the nationalist cause.

A colonial advertisement for Lipton Tea c. 1902 (Public Domain)

Language here became a terrain of contestation. While English remained the lingua franca of administration and the educated elite, the vernacular gained currency in the emotional lexicon of the masses. Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, and other regional languages began to appear more prominently in ads, not as translations, but as the primary vehicle of messaging.

The tension between English and vernacular languages remained after Independence in 1947. In the decades that followed, advertising agencies such as Lintas and Hindustan Thompson navigated a multilingual landscape with remarkable dexterity, often producing the same campaign in a dozen different languages. The goal was inclusivity. To sell Maggi noodles in Gujarat or Colgate in Tamil Nadu, one had to speak not just in translation but in cultural idiom.

Advertising pre- and post-liberalisation

Before India’s economic liberalisation, Indian advertising agencies were proficient in writing copy in multiple Indian languages. Adman Gerson da Cunha recalled that in the 1950s, Lintas created print ads in 14 different Indian languages for Lever Brothers’ Dalda Vanaspati. The agency didn’t simply translate one ad into various languages; each ad was crafted from scratch to reflect the food culture of specific linguistic communities in India.

As advertising executive Ambi Parameswaran notes in Nawab, Nudes, Noodles: India Through 50 Years of Advertising (2016), the advertising landscape in the 1960s and 1970s was dominated by convent educated individuals, many of whom took over from the British admen who left after India’s Independence.

As advertising executive Alyque Padamsee writes in Amul’s India, ads spoofing movies like James Bond Goldfinger were catered towards the elite, English speaking South Bombay Audiences (Amul’s India)

Indian language writers were typically confined to the ‘Language Department’ of agencies. However, this began to change. Kamlesh Pandey was one of the first to break this barrier, creating ads for brands like Red Eveready, Red & White cigarettes, and HMT bulbs, all originally written in Hindi. Piyush Pandey, Balki, Prasoon Joshi, and others carried this momentum into the 1990s and 2000s, paving the way for Hindi and non-English-medium writers.

The rise of globalisation and the blending of multiple cultures also contributed to the fusion of Hindi and English.

The advent of Hinglish advertising began in earnest with Pepsi in 1990, as they experimented with linguistic fusion. Pepsi, after entering the Indian market in the late 1980s, had to adapt to local tastes. The brand’s first attempt, ‘Lehar Pepsi,’ was soon replaced with the more globally recognisable tagline: “Yehi hai right choice, baby, aha!” signaling to Indian youth that Pepsi, not Thums Up, was the global choice with an Indian flavour. It became one of the company’s most successful advertisements.

In Hinglish Hamari Identity (2019), Author Shubhada Deshpande explains how the campaign transformed how Indians viewed Hinglish, from a subpar, ‘poor’ form of English to a lively and authentic representation of young India.

With the rise of vernacular communication, Hindi copywriters began to shape the advertising landscape by blending international brands with local contexts.

The influence of Bollywood

In Hinglish In Bollywood (2020), poet Kumar Ambar Pandey explains that as advertisements began incorporating Hinglish, people were intrigued by this fresh approach. The catchy jingles and slogans, using persuasive techniques, easily captured the audience’s attention. “Recognising this powerful shift, filmmakers had little choice but to embrace Hinglish in order to attract the audience’s attention,” he writes. Consequently, Hinglish found its way into everything, from movie titles and dialogues to song lyrics.

As historians V Lal and A Nandy argue in Fingerprinting Popular Culture: The Mythic and the Iconic in Indian Cinema (2017), by the 2000s, Bollywood fully embraced Hinglish. Harish Trivedi observes that Hindi cinema was adopting a more elite variety of Hinglish, which distanced itself from the rural dialects, further refining the language’s cultural appeal. Films like Jab We Met and Love Aaj Kal became prime examples of this shift.

In the early days of Indian cinema, advertisements took cues from the popularity of Hindi film songs. In the 1970s, as exposure to Western music increased through Radio Ceylon, Radio Kuwait, and AIR, a new voice emerged with Usha Uthup’s memorable jingles for brands like Gold Spot and Nescafe. One popular ad featured a girl strolling along a beach with a bottle of Gold Spot while Uthup sang, “Livva little hot, sippa Gold Spot.”

Jab We Met is one of many Bollywood titles to incorporate Hinglish (IMDB)

As IIM professor Rakesh Goswami points out in an interview with indianexpress.com, even in the Bollywood industry, where films are made in Hindi, many scripts are now written in Roman script. He argues that this shift reflects the generational importance placed on learning English. Even in early SMS communication, Hindi was often written in Roman script, a habit that likely influenced the way scripts were penned for advertising and billboards.

Jinali Patel, Assistant Professor at Kadi Sarva Vishwavidyalaya, tells indianexpress.com, that this phenomenon is somewhat unique. In countries like Germany, it is common to offer scholarships towards studying the German language. However, she argues, in India, Bollywood adopts Hinglish which has a huge impact on the mindset of the youth.`  Bollywood’s widespread use of Hinglish has been a driving force in popularising it in advertising, creating a mutually beneficial relationship. Films have amplified the language’s cultural significance, and ads, in turn, have helped it resonate with a broader audience.

The influence of generational shifts

Goswami explains that the rise of new words and acronyms in advertisements reflects the way Gen Z communicates. “This generation has reshaped language,” he notes. “They prefer shortening words and using acronyms, likely due to limited time and shorter attention spans. This could explain why we’re seeing more of these abbreviations appearing in advertisements.”

One such example in advertising is Domino’s catchy slogan, “Hungry Kya?” (Are you Hungry?), which blends both languages to appeal to a younger audience. Similarly, Lays’ ad line “Pal banaye magical” (It makes every moment magical) and Coca-Cola’s “Life ho to aisi” (That’s what life should be like), which employ Hinglish to resonate emotionally with their viewers.

Patel says Hinglish has become prevalent among students, particularly on campus, where it is used informally. However, students switch to formal English when engaging with teachers. Patel points out that as smartphones and media exposure have increased, students often adopt the language seen in advertisements, even using it in classrooms or on assignments.

Many students, despite being educated in English-medium schools, lack fluency in both Hindi and English, making Hinglish a natural alternative for expression.

Brands affect populare culture, but the same is also true in reverse. Vasadeva cites the example of Reebok. As Generation Z is adopting abbriviations and acronyms, she says, brands like Reebok are taking notice – changing their copy in ads to RBK.

Mathur suggests that Hinglish has become a practical linguistic tool for people to express themselves, particularly in rural areas, where there may be no direct equivalent in Hindi for certain English terms. As she explains, “sometimes, even in English, we use Hindi words when we can’t find the right word in English.”

This generational shift highlights Hinglish’s emergence as a cultural identity for the youth. Its combination of familiarity and modernity makes it an effective communication tool that bridges urban and rural divides, which is why it has become a preferred medium for advertisers aiming to connect with younger generations.

Goswami concludes that it’s hard to judge whether this change is good or bad, stating that it simply reflects how we communicate in the modern era. Vasadeva adds to that sentiment. When asked whether Hinglish was a good thing linguistically and culturally, she tellingly responds, “ultimate goal kya hai? It should resonate with consumers.”

Further Reading

What is India Speaking? Exploring the “Hinglish” Invasion, Rana D. Parshad, Physica, 2007

Social, economic, and demographic factors drive the emergence of Hinglish code-mixing on social media, Ayan Sengupta, Humanities and Social Science Communications, 2024

Selling Swadeshi: Advertising and Nationalism in Modern India, Aditya Roy, 2022

Nawab, Nudes, Noodles: India Through 50 Years of Advertising, Ambi Parameswaran, Pan Macmillan, 2016

Hinglish Hamari Identity, Shubhada Deshpande, International Journal of English Languages, 2019

Hinglish In Bollywood, Kumar Ambar Pandey, IJRAR, 2020

Fingerprinting Popular Culture: The Mythic and the Iconic in Indian Cinema, V Lal and A Nandy, Oxford University Press, 2006