MAM
Ember launches Everyday Cast Iron campaign
New film celebrates real kitchens and reimagines cast iron for modern Indian homes.
MUMBAI: Ember just turned cast iron into everyday iron because when your cookware feels like a lifelong friend instead of a weekend chore, even the tawa starts cheering. Ember, the premium kitchenware brand known for shaking up cookware norms, has rolled out its new visual storytelling campaign ‘Everyday Cast Iron’ this Women’s Day. The campaign steps away from polished show kitchens and dives straight into real Indian homes, capturing how cooking actually happens planned one day, spontaneous the next, always deeply personal.
Shot entirely in authentic kitchens, the films feature individuals with distinct culinary lives, food photographer and stylist Sanskriti Bist, Copper & Cloves founder Sarah Nicole Edwards, culinary professional chef Taiyaba Ali, artisanal cheese makers Ben and Kat of Nari & Kage, and home cook Jayati Jain. Their varied routines highlight that cast iron should adapt to real life, not the other way around.
Ember co-founder & CMO Himanshi Tandon said, “Cast iron is more than cookware, it carries familiarity and emotion for many people. But switching to it can sometimes feel like committing to a harder journey. Our attempt has been to make that journey easier by reimagining the category inside real homes, with real users and their everyday concerns in mind.”
Ember, chief culinary & innovation officer chef Saransh Goila added, “We spent time in real homes and kitchens to understand how people actually cook, clean, and take care of their cookware. From there, we went through multiple rounds of testing and iteration to engineer solutions that make cast iron easier to use while also improving consistency.”
The campaign introduces Ember’s dual cast iron approach, traditional pre-seasoned cast iron for classic performance and durability, and the proprietary TitaniumClad cast iron designed to address common maintenance concerns.
Ember CEO Siddharth Gadodia noted, “This category has existed for hundreds of years, but behaviour around it hasn’t evolved. Our research showed that while many households own cast iron cookware, regular usage remains limited. That gap between ownership and everyday adoption represents a significant opportunity.”
The Everyday Cast Iron collection is now available on the Ember website and Amazon. In a kitchen world that often demands perfection, Ember quietly reminds us that the most beautiful meals are the ones cooked with whatever time, mood and mess the day brings cast iron simply makes them better.
Digital
OpenAI drops Sora AI video tool, ends planned $1 billion Disney deal
Pivot to coding and AGI leaves media giant rethinking AI tie-up plans
CALIFORNIA: In a move that has sent ripples through both Hollywood and Silicon Valley, OpenAI has pulled the plug on its much-hyped AI video tool Sora, abruptly ending what was shaping up to be a landmark partnership with The Walt Disney Company.
According to media reports, the decision came with little warning. Teams from both sides had been working on a Sora-linked project when the shutdown was communicated, catching even those close to the collaboration off guard.
The fallout is significant. The move effectively scraps a proposed $1 billion, three-year agreement that would have seen Disney invest in OpenAI while opening up access to its vast library of characters for AI-generated short-form video content. The deal, however, had not been finalised and no funds had changed hands.
Sora, unveiled in early 2024, had dazzled the industry with its ability to generate cinematic-quality video from simple text prompts, triggering a wave of competing launches from AI players across the United States and China. Its sudden exit marks a sharp turn in OpenAI’s strategy.
The company is now redirecting its focus towards more commercially scalable areas such as coding tools, enterprise solutions and the long-term pursuit of artificial general intelligence. Internally, resources required to run the video model are understood to have weighed on other priorities, accelerating the decision.
Leadership roles are also evolving to match the shift. Sam Altman continues to steer the broader vision, while Fidji Simo’s remit has been realigned towards deploying AGI capabilities as part of a wider push to consolidate offerings into a unified platform.
For Disney, the setback is more strategic than financial. The company is said to be evaluating alternative ways to collaborate with OpenAI, even as it recalibrates its approach to generative AI in storytelling.
For the wider industry, the episode is a reminder that in the fast-moving world of artificial intelligence, even the most dazzling innovations can have a surprisingly short shelf life.
