The title says it all. And if you have seen the movie OH MY GOD then you will know exactly what I am talking about. But then the movie has its own bottom line, am an atheist and my views came pretty strong on the business of religion, do read my review of this movie.Back to the book. Written by a veteran adman, Ambi Parameswaran who has been in the advertising industry for more than 25 years. In the book Ambi clearly portrays how Indian companies and brands have cleverly played along with the so very sensitive religious Indians, since a long time now. Every chapter starts with his personal experience on the subject and then he talks about the trend in that sector/topic.At times the description of each and every religious activity, the rituals description and the listing of all the gods and the names of many such activity kind of goes over the top. Me being what I am, I skipped those parts and got interested in all the other parts where brands were linked to the Indian mindset of the religious beliefs of that era.For example, he talks about a research he did on portrayal of Indian wives in the print ads since 1960 till now. Has the bindi disappeared altogether from ads as compared to current print ads? What about women in Saari vs. women in western clothes? How has been the trend? You will know when you read.The whole religious travel business in India is a very big business, he talks about multiple religious yatra's that keeps many industries running in India. Tour packages, pooja samagri, agarbatti and many more things.Similarly many such interesting areas like - A compulsory pooja before doing anything - marriage, housewarming new car, new office, home etc. The entire business of marriage is a large business, and a very fulfilling one indeed. Religious music, TV channels, mythological tv shows (remember Ramayan and Mahabharat on DD), has a good case study on Life OK channel also. Not only Hindus, how do business in other religious suit themselves to the flow of spirituality. Then there is a Mont Blanc blunder with Gandhiji offer, classic case study. Then his Chennai office opening story is also neat.Only negative of this book, which is purely my personal view, is that at many places it has a lot of detailing about gods and other nitty gritty not related to the theme of the book.But if you are interested in Brands and how the religion plays an important part in how you launch your product, open an office etc. This book will rekindle you. An easy weekend reading is what I would say.

Ambi's book is a great fun read which is also quite memorable. It brings home a number of truths that we see around us without getting heavy. There were times when I said to myself "Hey, I noticed that too" and "That's happened to me as well."I would request everyone who likes to learn about people, and not just consumers, to read and enjoy "For God's sake."

My compliments to Dr. Parameswaran on authoring an excellent and insightful book, which is great read for ad industry professionals, marketers and general readers alike. I must share that I found the book so interesting that I just ordered 15 copies off Amazon.in to share with my entire leadership team during our coming business review. Looking forward to more and encore.