The Story of Prasoon Joshi, the Poet Who Gave Brands a Soul
When Coca-Cola wanted to belong in India, it did not shout louder. It borrowed a line of everyday Hindi, "Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola," and let the country finish the thought. The writer who understood that a brand could speak in the rhythm of ordinary speech was Prasoon Joshi.
Who he is
Prasoon Joshi is the Chief Executive Officer of McCann Worldgroup India and Chairman for Asia Pacific. He is also one of the few figures in Indian advertising who is equally respected as a poet, lyricist and screenwriter, which gives his brand work an unusual literary depth.
Early life and background
He was born on 16 September 1971 in Almora, in the hills of Uttarakhand, into a family that valued literature and music. Words were his first craft, and they remained the centre of everything he did in advertising.
Into advertising
He came to advertising by an honest route, and he has never hidden it.
"I realised nobody buys poetry. I joined an advertising agency, where I realised that their work is closest to poetry."
He built his career at McCann, rising to lead the agency in India and then across Asia Pacific, bringing a writer's respect for language into a business often driven by formula.
Signature work
His most quoted work is the "Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola" campaign, which fused cultural insight with mass appeal and lifted McCann's creative reputation in India. He also created Coca-Cola's "Ummeed Wali Dhoop" idea and wrote emotionally direct work for many brands. In each case the strategy hid inside a line that felt like poetry rather than a pitch.
The Coca-Cola film that made a slogan part of everyday Hindi:
Creative style
Joshi writes for the ear, and he insists that advertising has to stay connected to real life.
"You have to get the poetry of life into advertising. You cannot re-circulate advertising into advertising."
Industry impact
He raised the standard for writing in Indian advertising and showed that literary craft and commercial results are not opposites. His parallel life in cinema also expanded what an Indian adman could be, blurring the line between brand storytelling and popular art.
Awards and recognition
Joshi received the Padma Shri in 2015 for his contribution to arts, literature and advertising. As a lyricist he has won the Filmfare Best Lyricist award three times and the National Film Award for Best Lyrics twice, for Taare Zameen Par in 2007 and Chittagong in 2013. His film writing includes Rang De Basanti, Taare Zameen Par, Fanaa, Delhi 6 and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. In December 2025 he received the AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award.
What the industry says
"Prasoon Joshi stands tall as one of the most inspiring creative minds of our times. His ability to blend insight, emotion and cultural context into powerful storytelling has made a difference to Indian advertising at the global stage."
Srinivasan K Swamy, President, AAAI
"Pure intelligence in the day and age of ChatGPT and artificial intelligence."
Hemant Malik, Executive Director, ITC Limited
"You carry the wisdom of your roots into the most sophisticated boardrooms."
Sunil Suresh, Group CMO, Air India
Legacy
Beyond advertising, Joshi has served as Chairman of the Central Board of Film Certification since 2017. Among Indian advertising legends, he stands out for proving that a brand can have a soul as well as a strategy. For a generation of Indian copywriters, he is the reminder that the right words, chosen with care, remain advertising's most powerful tool.
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