Gopal Snacks has rolled out a campaign, 'Life Mein Khali Pet Kuchh Nahi Hota' (Nothing happens in life on an empty stomach), featuring actors Tara Sutaria, Danesh Rivzi, Mithila Palkar, and Ridhi Dogra.

Conceptualised by Scarecrow M&C Saatchi, the campaign consists of three ad films.

The first film, 'Failed Date' (above), features Sutaria and Rizvi as a young couple whose date is on the verge of getting spoiled due to hunger pangs, and Gopal Bhavnagari Gathiya comes as a saviour, reinforcing the insight that nothing can be done with an empty stomach.

The second film, 'Nepotism', is aimed towards working professionals, where Palkar and her colleague are found gossiping on workplace nepotism, which is missing the spark due to hunger. In the end, Gopal Gathiya snacks restore the workplace camaraderie.

The third film, 'Exam Pressure', strategically highlights how academic pressure trickles down from Indian conventional family heads to children. Starring Dogra as a mom who wants to pacify her son’s performance pressure before the exam with motherly advice, but she realises that with an empty stomach, nothing can be done. Once again, Gopal Papdi Gathiya becomes the catalyst that shifts the conversation from expectation to self-confidence.

What we think about it: The campaign nails a simple human truth and builds a tidy world around it, but the reliance on celebrity-led vignettes makes the storytelling feel a bit predictable. The films are polished and warm, yet they stop short of giving the brand a sharper or more surprising point of view beyond 'snack as saviour'.

Manish Bhatt, founder director, Scarecrow M&C Saatchi, said, “Hunger, big or small, has always been a fundamental human challenge. While there are countless solutions for big hunger, the world often overlooks the small hunger between two meals that disrupts our emotions, mood, and ability to do even the simplest things in life. Tapping into this universal truth, in a world where everything comes to a standstill when hunger strikes, the campaign introduces the insight, “Life Mein Khali Pet Kuchh Nahi Hota."

Raj Bipinbhai Hadvani, whole-time director and chief executive officer, Gopal Snacks, added, “According to our recent consumer feedback, not just the native geographies like Saurashtra or Gujarat, but everyone who has tasted it has developed an affinity towards Gathiya, across many regions in India. That’s why we decided to perceptually elevate Gathiya from a regional favourite to a big snacking solution for every Indian taste-bud through this multi-media campaign running on TV, OTT, Digital, Print, Outdoor and more.”

CREDITS:

Client: Gopal Snacks Limited

Brand: Gopal Gathiya

Agency: Scarecrow M&C Saatchi

Creative Team: Manish Bhatt, Raghu Bhat, Kapil Tammal, Yuvraj Gorule, Nikhil Kerkar, Abhishek Jadhav, Doremi Chatterjee, Komal Duhlani, Shriya Dabholkar, Yashvi Solanki, Aditya Ambike, Vinayak Shetye, Arunoday Thakur

Account management team: Monil Shah

Strategic planning team: Trisha D’souza

Print production studio team: Subhash Gade, Mangesh Kasekar and Vikram Dalvi.

Client team:

Founder, chairman and managing director: Bipinbhai Vitthalbhai Hadvani

Executive director: Dakshaben Bipinbhai Hadvani

Whole-time director and chief executive officer: Raj Bipinbhai Hadvani

Chief of staff: Shivangi Raj Hadvani

Sales and marketing

Chief business officer: Naveen Gupta

AVP marketing: Amit S Vyas

Assistant manager marketing: Karan Vora

Film production

Production house: Not Bad Films

Director: Afshan Hussain Shaikh

Executive producer: Doris George & Afshan Hussain Shaikh

Cinematographer: Kartik Vijay

Senior producer: Bhavna Singh

Producer: Siddhi Bhopale & Sidhant Sarkar

Production designer: Anita & Donald

Costume stylist: Tanya Sharma

HMU: Abinash Patra

Line producer: Shail Vora

Casting director: Vaibhav Vishant (Anti-Casting)

Associate producer: Tanvi Sanghvi

DA: Swati Vishnoi, Ishita Mishra (Prep), Sanskar Gupta & Krishna Shetty (Treatment)

1st AD: O’Keef Attari

2nd AD: Naveen Bharti, Falguni Dhumde & Sharanam Shetty

Production Manager: Gurdeep Singh Chadda, Dev Singh Bisht & Allan Fernandes

Direction intern: Aditya Singh

Production intern: Sachin Gaud

Sync sound: Sanjay Kakade

1st AC: Maulik Kamdar

Gaffer: Mansoor Ali

Key grip: Karam Appaya

Focus puller: Sashi Moses

Art director: Rashid Shaikh

Art team: Priyanka, Zarana, Etisha

Costume team: Nehal, Surabhi

DIT: Aditya Dubey

Packs: Prakash Adakale

Post production

Post producer: Dhruv Thakkar (Subsequent Productions)

Post supervisors: Sunil Wagh & Akshay Makwana

Editor: Tushar Shivan

Online Artist: Soham Rawal

AI/VFX: Boby Rajan (Madhouse Studios)

Colourist: Mahak Gupta

Online Assistant: Mitesh Mitalia

Online Studio: Prime Focus Studios

Audio production

Music director: Abhishek Arora

Sound designer: Chester Misquitta

VO: Sonia Nair

Sound assistant: Nehal

Sound studio: TuneInn Studios

Singers: Vidhya Gopal, Pratika Prabhune, Nikita Bharani

Photographer: Taras Taraporvala