Axis Bank bats for fixed deposits over risky investments

Everyone has heard or seen a father advise his family not to do something, only for them to ignore him, proceed with the said action, and suffer some sort of unpleasant consequence.

An 83-second spot shows a daughter returning home drenched after ignoring her father’s advice to carry an umbrella, a mother burning her hand after touching a hot vessel despite being warned, and a son who ends up needing spectacles from staring too much at the television, having paid no heed to repeated warnings.

“It feels bad, right, when nobody listens to you?” asks the father in Axis Bank’s new ad, which uses this familiar facet of family life to advocate for fixed deposits (FDs). The father is also the voice behind the now pop-culture-referenced line: “Investments are subject to risks, read all documents carefully.”

Towards the end of the ad, there’s a snapshot of a market meltdown and a newsreader stating that all investments are seeing a downward trend. The father—and Axis Bank by extension—urges viewers to invest a portion of their savings in “safe and secure fixed deposits.”

Such a message is unsurprising, given the rise in mutual fund investments over the years. The Economic Times reported that household savings in bank deposits, which stood at 47.6% in 2021, dropped to 45.2% in 2023. The share of mutual funds in household savings also increased, rising from 7.6% in 2021 to 8.4% during the same period.

More recently, as of FY24, mutual fund assets surged by Rs 14 lakh crore—or 35% year-on-year—to a record Rs 53.40 lakh crore in FY24, reported The Hindu Business Line.

So, it is hardly surprising to see Axis Bank reinforcing its stance on fixed deposits. “Why risk it? Invest a portion of your savings in safe and secure options like Fixed Deposits from Axis Bank,” says the ad’s description on YouTube.