On Kulfi's Radar - Issue 5
Kulfi Collective
Making the world (wide web) a brighter place, one meaningful story at a time
Buckle up, in a quick recap of the last few weeks- we’re diving into viral campaigns, new trends, algorithm updates and the latest from our creative playground.?
Pop Culture & Trends:
The U.S. TikTok ban sparked 44K social media videos, 1.1B views, and a meme-fueled protest. Users scrambled for VPNs, while phones with pre-installed TikTok sold for thousands on eBay. Many saw the ban as government overreach, holding mock funerals and even “farewelling” their Chinese spy.? Meanwhile, Duolingo saw a 216% spike in U.S. users learning Mandarin.
China’s AI model DeepSeek shook the internet, wiping $600B off Nvidia’s market value. Built for just $6M—far less than OpenAI—DeepSeek became a top Apple Store download. As the U.S. restricts chip exports, India debates its AI lag the best way it knows how: memes.
Samay Raina, fresh off the success of India’s Got Latent, joined Tanmay Bhat, Bhuvan Bam, and Kamiya Jani for a special influencer episode on KBC with Amitabh Bachchan. The teaser alone garnered over 11M views and 572K engagements, demonstrating the episode's widespread appeal.
Accused murderer Luigi Mangione continues to remain the internet’s obsession, racking up over 2.1B views, documentaries, lookalike contests, memes (across the world, yes — even in India), and merch! The internet has turned him into a modern-day Robin Hood empathising with his frustration around expensive costs of living, fueling a bizarre mix of thirst traps, documentaries, and social commentary.????
With 40 crore attendees, brands like Dettol (trained 15,000 sanitation workers),? Blinkit (opened a temporary store), and Omnigel (free massages)? turned the event into an activation goldmine. ? Viral figures like ‘Muscular Baba’ and garland vendor Monalisa Bhonsle dominated social media, proving that Kumbh Mela isn’t just a religious event, but also a big cultural moment estimated to attract 40 crore people.? ?
Everyone (including celebs) turned up, Jasprit Bumrah got a shoutout, and Coldplay content flooded timelines for what felt like months! What does this indicate? Concert culture is still niche in India and there is a HUGE market here-? Indians feel starved for international artists and entertainment IPs that our counterparts in east Asia are otherwise accustomed to.?
Brand Campaigns
PUMA tweaked store and ad signage to “PVMA” for Sindhu’s ambassadorship, leaving the Twitterverse to wonder if PUMA misspelled its own name. But? Sindhu’s post shut down rumors, turning a subtle campaign into a viral success. ???
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Instead of chopping trees, Britannia’s ads ‘auditioned them,’ designing billboards around those selected to promote their green efforts and walk the talk. This was quite the ?masterclass in sustainable storytelling, amplified by their agency Talented’s? BTS social push.??
Swish’s LED-clad delivery workers got attention, but was it innovation or exploitation? The campaign’s shock value fueled virality — whether the PR was good or bad is still up for debate.??
From LEGO collabs to Chappell Roan emotes, very few brands can leverage brand integration as well as Fortnite. With 650M players, Fortnite is setting the gold standard for gaming-meets-pop-culture crossovers and finding ways to include its brand into cultural conversations and moments that are tangential to the immediate world of gaming.
The cast acted in character inside a glass cube at NYC’s busiest station in what was dubbed a “dystopian performance art”, to promote season two of hit Apple TV+ show Severance. The eerie, surveillance-themed promo perfectly mirrored the show’s themes — and got people talking.????
Creative Tech & Platform Updates
CES 2025 unveiled gaming scents for deeper immersion.? Will players love it or just want to un-smell their virtual battlefields? We’ll see. But sensory elements like audio, haptics, scent and atmospherics are examples of how brands can commit to enhanced storytelling and innovate already successful products.
Instagram rolled out a rectangular grid, 3-min reels, trial posts, and FB-first content bonuses, but users weren’t thrilled—Mosseri’s comments were flooded with calls to restore chronological feeds. However, his new reel series decoding the algorithm, from reach to engagement weightage, is a must-watch for brands looking to optimize their social media strategy.
[PS: There’s no substitute for sharp creativity and social-first thinking. So, embrace trend jacking — but with intention, ensuring your content feels fresh, relevant, and truly engaging. ??]
Music giants Spotify and Universal Music Group have signed a multi-year agreement that could introduce a rumored premium tier with perks like early releases and artist Q&As.? While this could mean more $$$ for artists and labels, users already face subscription fatigue with endless paywalls, we’ll have to see how this plays out.? ? ?
That’s it.?
That’s the drip from Kulfi Collective! Stay tuned for more culture insights, trends, and moments next month!?