Piyush Pandey, Man Behind Iconic ‘Chal meri Luna’ Ad, Was Working on a Concept to Make the Brand “Immortal”

Among the slew of successful, and some iconic advertising campaigns created by adman Piyush Pandey, two campaigns – Hamara Bajaj for Bajaj Auto, and Chal Meri Luna for Kinetic auto — will always stand out. 

The latter, considered as one Pandey’s earliest and most memorable successes, was launched in the mid-1980s. It clicked, and yielded good results for the Kinetic Luna, an entry-level motorised mobility option, which could also be pedalled if required. The 50cc moped sold around 5 million units, before bowing out of the market in the early 2000s.

The Luna’s brand recall recently led the Firodias to bring it back to life in the form of an electric two-wheeler workhorse called e-Luna. Along with its name, the ‘Chal meri Luna’ line coined by Piyush Pandey remained. “He was very happy that Luna came back as E-Luna,” Sulajja Firodia Motwani, Founder and CEO, Kinetic Green, told ACKO Drive.

After relaunching the Luna in a new-age avatar in February 2024, Kinetic Green wants to keep this brand alive for “several decades”. Pandey was involved in charting a strategy for the brand he has been associated with since virtually the beginning of his career. Pandey started his journey in the ad industry in 1982, as a trainee account executive at advertising major Ogilvy & Mather’s (O&M) Indian arm.

"He and I were working on a concept as to how to make Luna timeless, like this time it should live forever. In a sense, the brand should encompass simple mobility and progress. It might change its form, it might change its styling, the features, but it should always stand for convenient, affordable mobility," said Motwani.                

She added that they were working on "making Luna timeless, making Luna immortal". Even if Pandey may not be around to complete that project, his contributions to brand Luna, and a host of other brands, will be remembered for a long long time.

'Chal Meri Luna' redux almost didn’t happen 

As much as Piyush Pandey liked the revival of brand Luna, and appreciated the invitation to create an ad campaign for it in the electric mobility era, he couldn’t take it up immediately. Though the collaboration would have happened through Pandey’s own agency 82.5 Communications, he initially declined the offer as there could have been a clash of interest. That’s because he was the common factor between 82.5 Communications and O&M, which has Bajaj Auto as its client.

Pandey eventually accepted the offer, but only after getting approval from long-time client Bajaj Auto’s MD & CEO Rajiv Bajaj, also a friend of the adman. "So it was very sweet of him to ask Rajiv, and it was very sweet of Rajiv too to be gracious about it," said Motwani.

A man who believed in India, and Indian concepts 

Be it with ‘Chal Meri Luna' for Kinetic, or 'Hamara Bajaj' for Bajaj Auto, Pandey had a knack for striking a chord with the target audience through the campaigns he was responsible for. "There is a sense of nationalistic pride in them," said Motwani. While the Luna served as an entry-level mobility option for a large part of India's population, Bajaj Auto’s scooters also fueled aspirations as symbols of progress and success.

“Piyush was Indian to the core. Prior to Piyush, our ad scene was just copying tried and tested western ads. Even the most successful ones like Lux soap. He created 'Chal Meri Luna' which had Indian consumers’ needs in focus. That is why Piyush Pandey was the first who made an Indian campaign, thinking about Indian customers," said Kinetic Group Chairman Arun Firodia, who was given a challenge by his father H K Firodia to launch a motorised two-wheeler with a price tag of not more than ₹2,000. The Luna was launched at ₹ 1,800.

Firodia decided to opt for an agency in Mumbai (then Bombay) for the advertisement campaign of the Luna. A simple brief from the client was to create something along the lines of the popular song ‘Chal mere ghode tik tik tik’, from a 1959 film Chirag Kahan Roshni Kahan, and to have no film star in it, as it could then become an expensive affair. 

Pandey created three options for the ad film, featuring three characters from different walks of life – a medical student, a government servant, and a businessman. Firodia chose to keep all three.

The Luna’s key pitch then was 'kharcha kam, mazbooti zyada' (less cost, more strength/robustness). The e-Luna is pitching the same in the current era, also leveraging the inherent low running cost advantage of an EV. 

Be it the internal combustion engined Luna, or the battery powered e-Luna, Pandey had a significant role to play in both the stories. Motwani said, "I'm going to miss him terribly". So will a whole lot of people. Piyush Pandey will be remembered for the rich legacy, and major creations that he leaves behind.

What may also be perhaps worth remembering, and practising, is the philosophy or approach Pandey subscribed to. "He would tell his team and he would tell us, don't be too serious. Have some fun," said Motwani. 

She further added that Pandey did not believe in hard selling. What he believed in was, "Just tell a story. If they like the story, they'll remember and they’ll like your product also."