How Piyush Pandey and his wife turned everyday love into the 'Googly Woogly Woosh'

New Delhi: When you think of Indian advertising’s most tender moments, few jingles roll off the tongue as easily or as affectionately as “Googly Woogly Woosh.” 

The Ponds Cold Cream campaign, launched in the late 1990s, was more than just a clever line; it was an ode to affection, intimacy, and the little quirks that make love disarmingly human.

What many don’t know, however, is that the ad’s emotional nucleus was drawn from the personal life of its creator, the late Piyush Pandey, and his wife, Nita.

At a time when most cold cream ads were built on beauty tropes such as porcelain skin, glamour, and celebrity, Piyush dared to make the brand feel warm. The story behind Googly Woogly Woosh wasn’t born in a boardroom but in a moment of everyday playfulness between husband and wife.

Pandey once recalled that his wife, Nita, had this endearing habit of squishing his cheeks lovingly, a gesture so childlike and sweet that it stayed with him. That’s how the phrase “Googly Woogly Woosh” was born, an expression of that tactile, fuzzy feeling love gives you.

In typical Piyush fashion, he didn’t overcomplicate it. He turned an intimate, private act of affection into something universal, the kind of emotional insight that could melt through the clutter of the 1990s’ competitive advertising landscape.

For Ponds, a brand that had long been synonymous with sophistication and fairness, this was a radical pivot. Suddenly, cold cream wasn’t just about skincare, it was about touch, connection, and the warmth of relationships.

The campaign’s charm lay in its sheer simplicity. No glamorous faces. No heavy narration. Just soft visuals, a hummable tune, and moments of spontaneous affection.

The jingle, composed by Ogilvy’s creative team under Piyush’s watch, carried a melodic innocence that made it instantly memorable. It became the kind of phrase every child hummed, every couple repeated, and every marketer envied.

Beyond the romance and playfulness, Googly Woogly Woosh also became a nostalgic trigger for Indian winters. It reminded people of the ritual of cold creams on dressing tables, of mothers rubbing soft cream onto their children’s cheeks before school, of the faint floral scent that lingered on scarves and palms.

The ad tapped into a shared seasonal emotion, that blend of warmth and chill, making Ponds not just a brand for winter care but a sensory part of the season itself.

Behind that melody, however, was a creative philosophy that defined Pandey’s body of work, emotion over artifice. He often said that great advertising doesn’t come from strategy documents or focus groups but from life, from watching people, feeling their emotions, and telling their stories with honesty.

And Googly Woogly Woosh was precisely that, a slice of life bottled into 30 seconds of advertising poetry.

For Pandey, who came from the heartland of Jaipur and grew up surrounded by simple people and simpler joys, affection wasn’t a grand gesture, it was in the ordinary moments.

That sensibility ran through much of his work, whether it was Fevicol’s rustic humour, Cadbury Dairy Milk’s uninhibited dance, or Asian Paints’ festive nostalgia. His ads never sold products; they sold feelings. And in the case of Googly Woogly Woosh, he sold warmth, the kind that seeps into your bones on a winter morning.

The campaign’s success wasn’t measured in numbers alone; it became part of India’s cultural lexicon. Decades later, people still remember the jingle, often without recalling the brand name first, a rare feat in advertising. It also cemented Ponds’ place in emotional storytelling, moving it beyond being a cosmetic product to a symbol of care and connection.

But what makes this story truly beautiful is that it shows the blurred line between Piyush Pandey the creative genius and Piyush Pandey the husband. His muse was not a model or a market insight, it was Nita, his partner, whose simple gesture sparked one of Indian advertising’s most enduring campaigns.

It’s a reminder that the best ideas often come from the most personal spaces, from observing love, laughter, and the little rituals of life.

In retrospect, Googly Woogly Woosh feels like more than just an ad, it’s a love story told through a brand. It stands as a testament to Piyush’s belief that the most powerful campaigns are those that make people feel, not just think.

Today, as the industry remembers Piyush Pandey, the man who gave Indian advertising its emotional vocabulary, Googly Woogly Woosh stands out as a reminder of his unmatched ability to humanise brands. Beneath the jingle’s playful rhythm lies a deeper truth, great advertising, like great love, begins with genuine affection.

It was Nita’s touch that sparked the line. But it was Piyush’s magic that turned that touch into one of the most memorable caresses in Indian advertising history, Googly Woogly Woosh.