Piyush Pandey's iconic ads over the years...

As Madison Avenue gets ready to report to Shivaji Park, we take a quick look at some of Pandey's memorable ads.

The hottest news in Indian advertising at the moment is Piyush Pandey's elevation - to global chief creative officer (CCO) of Ogilvy, effective 1 January 2019.

His niece Ishitta Arun writes on her Facebook page:

'Extremely proud to share this achievement of a humble man from humble beginnings whom i have the good fortune to call my family !

From accounts to WORLD WIDE CREATIVE OFFICER OF OGILVY AND MATHER- first Indian at that and that too first CCO to operate out of Mahim not Manhattan !

Mama - you make us proud !'

Piyush Pandey

Pandey has achieved this promotion on his own terms - The most important detail is that he will continue to be based in Mumbai. In a 2014 interview with afaqs!, he said, "I have never given a damn about regional jobs. Regional jobs are 'distant' and 'administrative'. The job becomes all about advising and guiding. You then end up becoming what I call a 'non-playing captain' of the team. And my boys don't seek that either. They're not the kind who'll want to sit here and tell the Sri Lanka team, 'Okay, you could have changed two words there' or meet the Vietnam team once in six months and tell them, 'Actually, you could have thought of this...' That's not what they have learnt from me. I could have left this country many years back for many regional jobs. I do sit on Ogilvy's worldwide board, but that is a 'twice a year' kind of a responsibility. To sit and look at the work of Romania, which you know nothing about, and say, 'I am head of the European and African region' doesn't interest my boys. Regional roles are like going for four weddings in a year, where you have to put on a tie; the other 361 days are when you roll up your sleeves and work."

This reminds us of the time Prasoon Joshi was promoted to the role of chairman of McCann Worldgroup, Asia Pacific; he said to us in a 2014 interview, "Well, you don't ask this question ("Will you move or not?") to someone living in the US or London. Probably, we are biased to begin with. We still think India is not a developed country. We still think it is a disadvantage to be in India. Is it? No. But is there an iota of truth in this? Yes, there is some truth in it. But that is changing. Today, India has accessibility. You can reach India from anywhere in the world and get to anywhere in the world from India. I don't think we are lagging behind in technology."

A master of simple yet powerful storytelling, Pandey, the ad world's favourite 'man with a moustache', has been winning the hearts of billions since the 1990s.

With over three decades of experience in the advertising industry, Pandey, an Ogilvy 'lifer', fondly known as the big daddy of Indian advertising, has created an array of memorable campaigns for brands such as Cadbury, Fevicol and Asian Paints, among several others.

A quick look at some of these ads that have stood the test of time. Of course this list is not exhaustive. But we've curated some of his iconic work. Take a look.

Sunlight Detergent Print Ad featuring Supriya Pathak - the first ad Pandey ever wrote
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'Second hand smoke kills' for Cancer Patients Aid Association (CPAA)
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The famous ‘Mile Sur Mera Tumhara’ song (1988) was created by Suresh Mullick and written by Piyush Pandey

Pandey roped in his friend and editor Raju Hirani to act in the 'Dum Lagake Haisha' ad, way before Hirani went behind the camera to make '3 Idiots'

Though the product, a 50 cc moped, introduced by Kinetic Engineering in India in 1972 died an early death, young Pandey’s first foray into TV “Chal meri Luna” was a blockbuster

Pandey and his team came up with the slogans 'achche din aane wale hain', 'janta maaf nahin karegi' and 'ab ki baar Modi sarkaar' as a part of BJP's campaign prior to 2014 assembly elections

Cadbury Dairy Milk old Doordarshan ad - Kuch khaas hai hum sabhi mein

'Moochwali commercial which marked 50 years of Fevicol’s existence (2009)

Asian Paints 'Har Ghar Kuchh Kehta Hai' (every home has a story of its own) commercial (2007)

Googly Woogly Woosh - Ponds Ad (2010)

Kuch din to gujariye Gujarat mein ad starring Amitabh Bachchan (2012)

TITAN -The Joy of Gifting: Pandey, then executive chairman and NCD, Ogilvy, scripted the TVC (2013)

A 40-second spot titled 'Todo Nahin, Jodo' by Pidilite Industries for Fevikwik, popular instant adhesive brand