Diwali 2025: Notable Brand Activations & Campaigns
Published 20 October 2025
The Hindu festival of Diwali (celebrated on October 20 this year) symbolises the spiritual victory of light over darkness. We decode some of the leading brand campaigns and activations serving the more than one billion people celebrating, including Lush’s sociopolitical activist take, L'Oréal India’s friendship-centric vision, Sephora’s beauty collective partnership, and Tesco’s ultra-local support for its consumers’ cultural heritage.
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Lush’s Sociopolitical E-commerce Messaging
UK eco-ethical beauty brand Lush dug into its reputation as an activist brand (it sometimes pitches itself as “a campaigning organisation fronted by a soap shop”, thanks to its stance on issues including Gaza, animal testing and ‘conversion therapy’). The brand’s Diwali e-commerce page put a socio-political spin on the festival of light.
Copy above its product edit read: “Light over darkness. Knowledge over ignorance. Good over evil. Diwali represents a time of light, truth and positivity […] this limited-edition selection has been created by our Co-Create team who are keen to reflect the themes of positivity that run through the festivities.”
L'Oréal’s Female-Friendship-Focused Slot
Seeking to show its modernity, L'Oréal India’s TV and social media campaign departed from the traditional family-centric festive messaging with its depiction of three female friends taking a Diwali trip together. Made by an all-female creative team, it stars leading Bollywood actor Alia Bhatt who decides to take a trip to her childhood home (an ornate Mughal mansion) for Diwali, inviting her childhood friends to join her.
Sephora’s South Asian Beauty Collective Edit
The UK division of French beauty giant Sephora partnered with Aarti Pal, the founder of South Asian Beauty Collective – a British organisation “reshaping beauty standards” by celebrating diversity, culture and identity. An edit of Pal’s product picks on the Sephora site was publicised via email and Instagram.
Tesco’s Ultra-Local Cultural Show for Diwali-Celebrating Diaspora
British supermarket Tesco’s store in Slough, south-east England, played host to a Diwali Cultural Performances festival for the second year running. Organised by community group Indian Diaspora in the UK, children performed acts such as traditional dancing and yogasana – a professional athletic discipline which will be proposed as an Olympic sport for 2036.
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