Ola Electric’s Bhavish Aggarwal takes a swipe at ‘cute’ Ather Rizta ads

Ola Electric founder Bhavish Aggarwal on Friday said that ‘cute ads’ would not work in the EV segment, in an apparent dig at rival Ather Energy’s efforts at marketing its new family scooter, Rizta.

Ather, which so far has competed in the performance scooter segment with its 450 range, recently launched Rizta to compete in the family scooter segment that is dominated by Ola Electric with its S1 range of scooters.

Earlier in the day, Ather cofounder and chief executive Tarun Mehta had tweeted an advertisement of the Rizta, featuring director Anurag Kashyap, which marketed an Alphonso mango colour scheme.



“I see some EV companies trying to make ‘cute’ ads in a bid to grow their stagnant sales,” Aggarwal posted on X about two hours after Mehta.


“Pro tip for them: Electric vehicles is a supply chain and manufacturing business. Save the marketing and sales ₹₹ and invest it into supply chains and tech to lower your product costs,” Aggarwal added on his post.

Ola Electric, which is bound for the public markets, accounts for roughly half of all electric scooter sales in India. The firm spent Rs 13.1 crore for advertising and promotional activities in the first three months of FY24, and Rs 61.4 crore for marketing in FY23, a 24% increase from the previous fiscal. Meanwhile, Ather’s advertisement expenses more than quadrupled to Rs 203 crore in FY23.