Saluting Everyone In Uniform: When Zomato Made Delivery Partners The Heroes Of Republic Day

Republic Day, when India celebrates its constitutional values and honors those who serve the nation. As brands across the country prepared their patriotic campaigns—typically featuring flags, parades, and familiar symbols of nationhood—Zomato chose a radically different approach. Their "Salaam Sabko Wahi" (Same Salute to Everyone) campaign would redefine what serving the nation looks like by celebrating the most overlooked people in uniform: delivery partners. In doing so, Zomato created one of the most memorable Republic Day campaigns, proving that patriotism doesn't always need flags—sometimes it just needs fresh perspective.

The Power of Perspective: Seeing Through Delivery Partners' Eyes

The ad is shot from the perspective of the delivery men and showcases their daily routine, as they go about delivering food to customers. This POV choice wasn't merely stylistic—it was strategic. By literally showing the world through delivery partners' eyes, Zomato made audiences experience their daily reality: navigating traffic, climbing stairs, waiting at doors, interacting with people from all walks of life.

The campaign showcases its delivery man delivering food to various parts of the nation, wishing everyone in uniform with the same greeting—a salute. As the delivery partner goes about his rounds, he encounters different uniformed professionals: perhaps police officers, security guards, postal workers, sanitation workers—all people whose uniforms signify service to society but who rarely receive the recognition military or government officials do.

Each time, the delivery partner offers the same gesture: a salute. Not because protocol demands it, not because hierarchy requires it, but because he recognizes fellow service. The tagline "Salaam Sabko Wahi" reinforced this message of unity and respect—the same salute for everyone, regardless of rank or role.

The Revolutionary Ending: Saluting The Competition

Then came the moment that made the campaign truly remarkable: the ad ends with a salute to rival delivery brands, emphasising the message of unity and respect. This wasn't just bold—it was unprecedented in Indian advertising, where competition is typically treated as warfare, where acknowledging competitors' existence is considered strategic weakness.

By showing their delivery partner saluting delivery partners from competing brands—presumably Swiggy, Dunzo, and others—Zomato made a profound statement: all delivery partners serve the nation by keeping it fed and connected, regardless of which app they work for. The uniform matters more than the logo.

The ad also showcases Zomato's commitment to promoting unity and respect among its competitors. In doing so, Zomato elevated the entire gig economy workforce, suggesting that delivery partners collectively form a service force as essential to modern India's functioning as any traditional uniformed service.

The Core Message: All Uniforms Serve The Nation

By taking the vantage point of the delivery man, the campaign aims to highlight the message that all uniforms serve the nation and deserve respect. This democratization of "service to the nation" was the campaign's radical proposition.

Traditionally, Republic Day celebrations honor military personnel, police, firefighters—those in government service whose uniforms carry official authority. Zomato expanded this definition to include anyone whose work keeps society functioning: delivery partners, sanitation workers, security guards, postal employees. If your job requires a uniform and serves the public, you serve the nation—and deserve the same recognition.

This wasn't just feel-good messaging—it addressed real social hierarchy. In India, uniformed delivery partners often face discrimination, are made to wait outside buildings, are treated as less-than by customers who barely acknowledge their humanity. By equating their service with traditionally respected uniformed services, Zomato challenged these biases directly.

The Strategic Brilliance: Building From Brand's Core Symbol

Industry analysis from Leapfrog Strategy Consulting highlighted what made campaigns like Zomato's particularly effective: "Creativity is held back by familiarity. It is only when brands step out of their comfort zone by not overly relying on familiar symbols that the campaigns become much more creative as can be seen in the campaigns by Zomato and Axis Bank. Starting from the brand's core symbol, their staff and building a story of good citizenship for Republic Day, helps these brands create much more memorable communication for the day."

Zomato didn't use generic patriotic symbols—flags, monuments, military imagery. Instead, they started with what made Zomato distinctive: delivery partners in their branded uniforms. By building the Republic Day message around this core brand asset, they created campaign that felt authentically Zomato rather than generically patriotic.

The analysis by Hamsini Shivakumar and Prabhjot Singh Gambhir emphasized how avoiding familiar symbols while building from brand's core created more memorable communication. This approach ensured the campaign wasn't forgettable parade of national symbols but distinctive statement about what service means.

The Anthem That Reinforced The Message

The use of the tagline "Salaam Sabko Wahi", which audiences also hear as the background anthem of the campaign, reinforced the message of unity and respect, making it a powerful and memorable campaign. The musical element wasn't just background—it was mnemonic device, embedding the message in viewers' memories through repetition and rhythm.

The phrase itself—"Salaam Sabko Wahi" (Same salute to everyone)—contained elegant simplicity. In three words, it captured the campaign's entire philosophy: equality of respect, uniformity of dignity, democracy of recognition. The anthem format made this philosophy chantable, shareable, memorable.

Well-Executed and Impactful

Industry observers noted that Zomato's Republic Day campaign is well-executed and impactful as it highlights the importance of unity and respect within the nation and the people. The execution quality mattered—production values that made delivery partners look heroic, cinematography that made their daily routes look meaningful, editing that gave their routine dignity.

The campaign succeeded because it made audiences see delivery partners differently. After watching, you couldn't quite treat the next delivery partner as invisible service functionary. You'd see the uniform, remember the salute, recognize the service.

The Broader Implications: Redefining Good Citizenship

The campaign positioned Zomato as more than food delivery platform—it positioned the brand as advocate for gig economy workers whose labor enables modern urban life but whose dignity isn't always acknowledged. This corporate citizenship positioning created goodwill that went beyond traditional advertising ROI.

For delivery partners themselves—Zomato's and competitors'—the campaign offered something valuable: recognition. In a job often characterized by invisibility and disrespect, being featured in Republic Day advertising as essential workers serving the nation wasn't trivial—it was dignity-affirming, pride-building.

For competitors' delivery partners specifically, being included in the salute was generous gesture that acknowledged shared struggle and shared service. It suggested Zomato didn't view them as enemies but as colleagues in essential work.

Five Lessons From Salaam Sabko Wahi

1. Build Patriotic Campaigns From Brand Assets, Not Generic Symbols

Zomato used delivery partners—their core brand asset—as campaign centerpiece rather than defaulting to flags and parades. This made their Republic Day message distinctively theirs. The lesson: when creating occasion-based campaigns (national days, festivals, cultural moments), start with what's authentically yours—your people, your product, your unique perspective—rather than generic symbols everyone else uses. Authenticity creates memorability; familiarity creates forgettability.

2. Acknowledging Competitors Can Build Category Goodwill

Saluting rival delivery brands was unprecedented but strategic—it elevated the entire gig economy category while positioning Zomato as magnanimous leader. The lesson: in categories facing external criticism or social challenges, occasional competitor acknowledgment can build goodwill for the entire industry while making your brand seem confident and secure. Competition isn't always zero-sum; sometimes lifting the category lifts all players, especially the most visible one.

3. POV Cinematography Creates Empathy

Shooting from delivery partners' perspective made audiences experience their reality, building empathy more effectively than observing them externally would have. The lesson: when your campaign's goal is building respect or recognition for overlooked groups, consider using their literal point-of-view. First-person perspective creates identification and empathy that third-person observation cannot. Make audiences see through your subjects' eyes, and they'll see your subjects differently afterward.

4. Expand Traditional Definitions To Include Your Stakeholders

Zomato expanded "service to the nation" to include delivery partners, inserting their workforce into traditionally exclusive category. The lesson: when cultural moments celebrate specific groups (veterans, mothers, teachers), consider whether your stakeholders could authentically be included in expanded definition of that category. Strategic redefinition—done respectfully and logically—can give your people recognition while making your brand seem thoughtful about who deserves honor.

5. Simple, Repeatable Phrases Become Movement Mantras

"Salaam Sabko Wahi"—three words that encapsulated entire philosophy while being musically memorable. The lesson: when building purpose-driven campaigns, distill your message to shortest possible phrase that captures the complete idea. Simple mantras become shareable, repeatable, memorable in ways complex messages cannot. If your campaign philosophy can't be expressed in five words or less, you haven't clarified it enough.

The Cultural Context: India's Gig Economy Workers

The campaign arrived at moment when gig economy workers—delivery partners, ride-share drivers, service providers—were becoming increasingly visible yet remained socially invisible. They were everywhere (delivering food, driving rides, providing services) but nowhere (excluded from labor protections, social recognition, dignified treatment).

Zomato's campaign didn't solve systemic issues facing gig workers—lack of benefits, job security, workplace protections. But it offered something campaigns can provide: narrative shift. By positioning delivery partners as patriots serving the nation, Zomato made it slightly harder to treat them as disposable labor.

The Risk of Seeming Self-Serving

Some critics might argue the campaign was self-serving corporate PR—Zomato celebrating its own workers, building goodwill while avoiding substantive improvements to delivery partners' working conditions. This critique has validity. Advertising recognition doesn't replace fair wages, benefits, or job security.

However, the campaign's inclusion of competitors' delivery partners complicated this critique. If Zomato were purely self-serving, they'd have limited salutes to their own partners. By including all delivery partners regardless of employer, they suggested genuine belief in dignity-of-work message that transcended corporate interest.

The Lasting Message

"Salaam Sabko Wahi" succeeded because it made visible what society treats as invisible. Delivery partners are everywhere—on bikes, at doors, in elevators—yet rarely seen as individual humans deserving recognition. The campaign insisted: see them. Respect them. Recognize their service.

The salute to rival brands elevated this from corporate messaging to industry-wide acknowledgment: all delivery partners, regardless of employer, perform essential service. In fragmenting gig economy where workers are isolated from each other by competing platforms, this gesture of unity mattered.

Conclusion: When Perspective Changes Everything

Republic Day celebrates India's constitution and the values it enshrines: justice, equality, dignity. Zomato's "Salaam Sabko Wahi" campaign embodied these values not through abstract patriotic symbols but through concrete recognition: delivery partners in uniform serve the nation and deserve the same salute as anyone else in uniform.

By shooting from delivery partners' perspective, Zomato made audiences walk miles—metaphorically—in their shoes. By saluting everyone in uniform equally, they challenged social hierarchies that grant recognition based on official status rather than essential service. By including competitors, they transcended corporate interest to champion gig workers generally.

The campaign asked Republic Day's fundamental question—what does service to the nation look like?—and answered: it looks like delivery partners navigating traffic, climbing stairs, bringing food to doors, keeping India fed and connected. Their uniform deserves recognition. Their service deserves respect. Their salute deserves to be returned.

"Salaam Sabko Wahi"—the same salute to everyone. Not based on rank. Not based on official status. Not based on which company logo appears on the uniform. Based on service. Based on dignity. Based on the constitutional values that say all work that serves society deserves equal respect.

That's not just good advertising. That's good citizenship. And on Republic Day, that's exactly what the occasion demands: recognition that building the nation happens not just in government offices and military bases, but on streets, at doorsteps, in the daily labor of people whose uniforms don't usually merit salutes but whose service makes modern India possible.

One delivery at a time. One salute at a time. One moment of recognition suggesting that maybe, just maybe, we should see—really see—the people in uniforms we've learned to overlook.

Salaam Sabko Wahi. The same respect. The same dignity. The same salute. To everyone.