8/8
3. Normalization through repetition
When multiple brands, across multiple categories, use smog as their creative playground, the cumulative message is: "Pollution is just part of modern life. Deal with it, at a cost."

Pollution isn’t just in the air. It’s also in the narrative.

7/8
2. A shift of responsibility from government to consumers
It becomes your job to buy air purifiers, nasal sprays, immunity boosters, masks, and seek out places that offer indoor-filtered systems.

6/8 The net impact on society?

1. Reduced public pressure on policymakers
If every year is framed as 'smog season', we people are conditioned to accept it, rather than demand systemic change.

5/8 Because advertising doesn’t ask: "Why is the air toxic?". It only asks:
"What can we sell you now that the air is toxic?".

But the side-effect is hard to miss: when every solution is product-led, pollution becomes something we’re meant to manage, not something we should be angry about.

4/8 All this shifts pollution from a crisis to a context: You’re not meant to protest it. You’re meant to adapt within it.

To be fair, brands aren’t exactly 'pro-pollution'. They’re simply responding to real market demand. The intent is not normalization, but the effect often is.

3/8 Ads that should shock us end up normalising the very thing they’re warning us about. The shift is from 'Pollution should be solved'... to 'Pollution can be managed by individuals through products'.

Resultant psychological effect: "Bad air is scary, but don’t worry... here’s what you can buy".

2/8 What’s fascinating is how the messaging has evolved. Smog is no longer a crisis or a collective failure. It’s a season. Like winter. Or the IPL.

And because there’s enough demand, multiple brands now build their entire marketing calendar around bad air. AQI drops, campaigns go live.