Ekta Kapoor pokes fun at her TV legacy in YesMadam’s new campaign

A few days back, Ekta Kapoor had social media doing a double take. The founder of Balaji Telefilms posted an Instagram story calling herself the “OG K-Drama queen”.

For a moment, people would have really believed Kapoor was making her debut in a Korean drama. The timing collided with her iconic daily soap Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi making a comeback recently, and fans drew parallels to the other “K” juggernauts she’s given us over the years – Kasauti Zindagi Kay, Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii, and many more.

Turns out, the hype wasn’t about a K-drama at all. It was the build-up to YesMadam’s latest campaign – something we see brands doing more often these days as part of marketing gimmicks.

The ad itself begins with Kapoor admitting she’s had enough of ads constantly popping up on her own shows. So, she decides to take matters into her own hands and direct one.

She sits across from Akanksha Vishnoi, co-founder of YesMadam, who pitches a campaign around the brand’s Korean beauty service range. Kapoor listens but, in true Ekta style, tries to spice it up with her own ideas.

The ad shows her in a self-mocking avatar: she jokes about her own tropes, like bringing a writer who could churn out 1,000 episodes a day, or teasing the co-founder when she says every product is used only once – clearly a nod to Kapoor’s habit of reusing storylines across shows.

Conceptualised and executed by The Ridikulus, the film promotes YesMadam’s salon services – everything from Korean glow facials and manicures to waxing and body polishing. But it initially underplays Kapoor’s trademark drama. It doesn’t quite use her full potential.

There’s hardly any drama, suspense, or those gasping pauses that made her soaps legendary. Kapoor herself seems slightly underwhelmed – until the end, when she finally sneaks in that iconic background music from her TV sagas. Only then does she look satisfied, adding her signature stamp of approval.

Speaking about the collaboration, Akanksha Vishnoi, co-founder of YesMadam, said: “With this campaign, we wanted to merge the cultural wave of Korean beauty with Ekta Kapoor’s iconic identity as the queen of drama. Ekta was the perfect partner to bring humour and relatability to the idea, and the response has been overwhelming.”

This isn’t the first time the brand has leaned on unconventional tactics – last year, it grabbed headlines for allegedly terminating employees under stress, which also turned out to be part of a campaign. A day later, the company apologised through a LinkedIn post as the move was widely criticised on social media, with users questioning the company's approach to employee well-being.

In February 2025, the salon chain's campaign took aim at L&T chairman SN Subrahmanyan for his controversial push for a 90-hour workweek.

The ad starring Dalip Tahil as a character inspired by Subrahmanyan mocked his remarks questioning remote workers and his now-viral line, “How long can you stare at your wife?” The comments, urging employees to return to offices and work longer hours, had already sparked widespread backlash online, making the satirical campaign a sharp cultural response.

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With Ekta Kapoor on board this time, YesMadam adds another viral moment to its growing playbook – even if some of us were secretly hoping for a little more full-blown Ekta-style melodrama.