The archive · Advertising · Marketing decision · 2025
Brooke Bond Taj Mahal Tea's Chai Bansuri turns tea steam into live flute music
A 500-litre kettle on the Krishna riverbank plays Raag Hamsadhwani live — steam, not speakers — while Taj Mahal Tea brews.
Brooke Bond Taj Mahal Tea (Hindustan Unilever)
What it had to solve
Brooke Bond Taj Mahal Tea wraps its identity in Indian classical music, but that heritage normally surfaces only in films and print. The challenge was to make the tradition physically present — to turn the everyday moment a kettle boils into a live musical event people could watch, hear and share.
How it works
Brooke Bond Taj Mahal Tea has long wrapped itself in Indian classical music, but for most drinkers that heritage existed only in advertisements. Ogilvy India and Mindshare were asked to make the tradition tangible: let the tea itself make the music, live, in public.
Their answer was Chai Bansuri — a 500-litre tea kettle installed at Punnami Ghat in Vijayawada on the Krishna riverbank. As the brew heated, rising steam entered a concealed flute while mechanized fingers performed Raag Hamsadhwani in real time. Nothing was recorded: the steam was the air, the fingers the flautist.
The installation ran April 5–6, 2025, after eight months of engineering with percussionist Taufiq Qureshi and flautist Hrishikesh Majumdar, and was amplified by a campaign film and a cameo in Zee Telugu's Padamati Sandhyaragam. Fans travelled from Hyderabad to hear the kettle play.
According to the LIA entry, spontaneous awareness rose 600 basis points and top-of-mind 300 bps (the strongest brand lift of the activity month); 'enhances your mood' jumped 700 bps, the highest in 12 months; and the film's TVR doubled to 1.9 from 0.8. The work took a Bronze at LIA 2025 and was shortlisted at Cannes Lions 2025.
Why it lands
- The demo was the medium: steam from real tea produced real music, so the audience heard the brand claim rather than being told it.
- It replaced a recorded soundtrack with physics — a flute played by boiling water is proof no recording can fake.
- It staged classical music where people actually gather, turning a centuries-old tradition into a shareable urban spectacle.
- It scaled the moment through earned formats — a film, regional TV cameo and visitor word-of-mouth — so one 48-hour installation generated a month of brand lift.
What it did
Per the LIA entry, spontaneous awareness rose 600 basis points and top-of-mind rose 300 bps — the strongest brand lift of the activity month. 'Enhances your mood' climbed 700 bps, the brand's highest score in 12 months, and the campaign film's TVR doubled (1.9 vs 0.8). Fans travelled from Hyderabad to watch the kettle play; the work won a Bronze at LIA 2025 (Music & Sound / Experiential Use) and was shortlisted at Cannes Lions 2025.
What you can take
Make the product's invisible physical property — steam — the instrument, and let the live experience prove the brand's cultural claim without a single recorded note.
Since then
Chai Bansuri won a Bronze at the 2025 London International Awards in Music & Sound / Experiential Use and was shortlisted at Cannes Lions 2025. The activation became a reference point for live brand experiences in India, showing that a utilitarian appliance — the tea kettle — could be reimagined as a classical instrument and a public event.
Sources
- London International Awards 2025 — 'Chai Bansuri' entry details
- Boiling point of brilliance: Taj Mahal Tea's musical teapot makes waves
- HUL unveils campaign for Brooke Bond Taj Mahal
- Taj Mahal Tea unveils Chai Bansuri in Vijayawada
- Ogilvy and Brooke Bond Taj Mahal turn tea steam into melody in tribute to Indian classical music
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