Zomato’s Ad On Its '16th Janamdin' Has Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma's Attention

Celebrating another milestone, the popular food delivery platform Zomato went all out to mark its 16th birthday this year. More than the occasion, what grabbed the most headlines was a standout full-page advertisement that went viral on social media. Upon being shared, the advertisement caught everyone’s attention, including Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma.

It includes a large photograph of Zomato’s founder and CEO, Deepinder Goyal, along with smaller images of the company’s top executives. The newspaper advertisement also has a text written in Hindi that read, “16th janamdin par aap sabhi ko apna pyar barsane ke liye koti koti dhanyawad (On our 16th birthday, a big thanks to all of you for showering us with love).” With desi format and colour schemes, the intriguing ad covered the entire first page of the newspaper.

As soon as it came out, the viral ad left the internet amused, reminding them of the age-old approach of using political billboards and hoardings to advertise birthdays and achievements.

The unique marketing tactic immediately gained momentum, resulting in a flood of reactions from netizens. Among the reactions, the one that truly stole the limelight was Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s post on X. He shared the picture of the newspaper ad congratulating Zomato for clocking 16 years in business. Praising the creative ad, he wrote in Hindi, “On the 16th birthday of Zomato, heartiest congratulations to the chief, Mr Deepinder Ji, and all the members of his executive! May God grant us such praiseworthy advertisements always.”

Meanwhile, through the advertisement, the restaurant aggravator also offered a special deal to the users, which included a Zomato Gold membership for 6 months for just Rs 30.

Various X users flooded X with their congratulatory posts for the food-delivery platform. Some even suggested ideas to make their ads more captivating. A user wrote, “Congrats Mr Deepinder and team Zomato! Wishing more wind to your sails.”

“Lovely. They missed only one trick. They should have had 20 passport sized photographs below,” added another individual.

A third X user added, “Please develop a PayTM money app for iPads.”

Founded by Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah in 2008, Zomato currently operates in over 1,000 cities across India. Besides, it has chains in multiple international markets, including New Zealand, Canada, Turkey, and Brazil.