CRED's New Gautam Gambhir Ad Turns Up the Weird Factor

CRED, the fintech app known for its quirky ads, has dropped a new commercial featuring Indian cricket coach Gautam Gambhir, and it’s as strange as you’d expect—maybe even stranger.

The ad, which mixes creepy visuals with a jab at artificial intelligence hype, is already making waves online for its bold, bizarre approach.

Created by Moonshort, the 30-second spot starts with a wild scene: an animated head on an ice cream cone dives toward Gambhir’s face, sticking its tongue in his mouth in a way that’s both gross and confusing.

The two then morph into a giant, dripping ice cream cone. Gambhir, playing himself, watches this unfold on a laptop and looks horrified.

A smug CRED executive proudly explains that the whole thing was made by AI, prompting Gambhir to smash the laptop in frustration.

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The actual point of the ad is the tie-up with Instamart. Pay your credit card bills on CRED during Asia Cup matches, and you could win free ice cream deliveries. The message is tucked into the chaos, with the tagline, “Pay on time, get sweet rewards.”

CRED has a knack for ads that grab attention but leave people puzzled about what the app does. It’s mainly a platform for paying credit card bills with rewards, yet its campaigns—like Rahul Dravid’s “Indiranagar ka gunda” or a star-packed audition spoof—focus on humor and shock over clarity. “People remember the ads, but not always that CRED’s about settling bills,” one industry insider said.

This Gambhir ad plays on cricket fever and the AI craze, poking fun at how machines can churn out wild content while humans, like the fed-up coach, keep things real. Social media is buzzing, with fans calling it “hilarious” and “weirdly brilliant.” One X post joked, “If this is AI’s idea of ads, I’m paying my bills the old-fashioned way.”

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Some say the ad’s too out-there, but CRED’s history shows that weird works. Its offbeat style sparks chatter, turning confusion into engagement. Whether that means more users or just more memes, CRED’s clearly fine with either.