Sexy Indian Ads

Adjective: sexy (sexier, sexiest) seksee
1. Marked by or tending to arouse sexual desire of interest
"feeling sexy"; "sexy clothes"; "sexy poses"; "a sexy book"; "sexy jokes"
2. Exciting sexual desire

That's what the wonderful and handy dictionary - WordWeb - describes the word "sexy" as.

Since it is difficult to be suggestive (leave alone being explicit) without inviting the wrath of the right, left and the centre in India, the sexiness quotient in Indian advertising is different from more liberal societies.

The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has prohibited the transmission or retransmission of the advertisements of 'Lux Cozy Underwear' and 'Amul Macho Underwear' on all broadcasting platforms with immediate effect.

Nevertheless, we have had a lot of campaigns with a lot of oomph. From the vintage to the ones from century present, I've attempted to collect some. More will follow.

Sexiness depends on the point of view (pun intended). What's sexy for one is obscene or tasteless or even loathsome for others. Here are some generalisations.

First the Amul Macho chaddi ad, which has got everyone, from the mithaiwallah to the mantri, so excited.

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Sanah Khan with her twaing expression.

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Any gyaan on the meaning or symbolism of the word twaing?


It was Liril - and the original Liril girl Karen Lunel - which added the much needed sizzle to the world of Indian advertising.


Towel wrapped sexiness from 1975. Bombay Dyeing.


The big bad controversy. A campaign for Tuffs shoes and the hot couple Milind Soman and Madhu Sapre in the buff (except for their Tuffs shoes) and a python coiled between them.



More Tuffs. More skin.


Now here's the python with Madhu Sapre. Wonder where Milind went? Maybe the python got jealous and hungry at the same time.


Well men say that they like the 'eyes' but actually they mean what their eyes see. And you know where. Dayal Opticals do help you see better.


"Nokia N93i with extra powerful zoom." Does it zoom any closer?


That anorexic female from the Numero Uno ad. (Damn! I can't recollect her name). More of her later.


Why does Levis call them Low Rise jeans? Shouldn't they be Low Fall?

Okay, now I got it. When they fall low, others rise. All the faces in the above two ads seem familiar. Can you name them all?


I don't like the look of the new Bisleri bottle. The previous one featured in their 'Play Safe' campaign looked much better. Well, it would've been even better if the bottle wasn't there. More from the campaign in later episodes.


Dark desires. Now I got her name. Lakshmi Menon in Swatch Bijoux ad.


More of swatchy, sultry and sweaty Lakshmi.

[To be continued. Keep a tab here for updates]