Advertising has come a long way, from pedlars in the market square extolling their goods to glossy mags full of innuendo and making extensive use of verbal and non-verbal devices to attract consumers. In India, copywriters make extensive use of English words and phrases in advertisements in a variety of ways. This paper examines the use of English in television and print advertising in the Tamil language. A cursory examination of Tamil advertising shows that the language of advertising does not follow rigid rules: it makes optimal use of possible resources from a wide variety of styles.