Why are brands under Ganji Chudail's spell?

Nykaa recently collaborated with the internet meme, prompting industry watchers to talk about the longevity of brands leveraging trending cringe content for engagement

by Soumya Gawri
Published: Sep 24, 2024 9:28 AM | 5 min read

Ganji Chudail, the internet's favourite bald-headed snack-stealing menace, has sure had a glow up. A few months ago, Ganji Chudail was the epitome of cringe content, but today, she's being sought after by brands for collaborations.

After Netflix teamed up with Ganji Chudail to promote Murder Mubarak, Nykaa is the recent brand to fall under the witch's spell. In the words of the internet, "We have a Nykaa×Ganji Chudail collab before GTA 6."

Nykaa's recent animated ad featuring Ganji Chudail has grabbed eyeballs as it seems to have taken an extreme creative direction in an attempt to engage its audience. The brand took to Instagram on Monday to post this collab with Majedar Kahani, the creators of Ganji Chudail in an animated video.

The ad follows the usual Ganji Chudail narrative with the eponymous witch trying to win an "alpha male's" attention only to get rejected for her baldness. She then tries the three-step hair care process by Nykaa, regaining her hair and confidence to live her "main character" life. The ad has been received well for the most part with the audience lauding Nykaa marketing team for its "audacity."

It's not rare for brands today to leverage meme content to gain audiences' attention, and for a good measure, it may also give them the numbers they want. But is this tend sustainable?

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“Though this might get Nykaa, numbers but this trend is deemed to be one of those one off kind of videos that can be called ‘Internet’s Palette Cleansers’, in between all fun and conventional advertisements. Like a sudden unexpected shock that has worked really well for the brand. The Internet is on the kind of curve where anything buzzard is appreciated and made viral way more than campaigns that actually are deep and meaningful for causes that matter.

"For example the Cannes last year vs Cannes this year, had celebrated a totally different realm of content. This year is all about weird collabs and things you never thought would happen, but here we are witnessing all of it”, said Shradha Agarwal, Founder, Grapes.

Agarwal went on to say that we might be seeing these quirky brands in an attempt to gain attention and buzz but this is not a game for the test matches. “Some of these ideas might be getting too out of hand. God forbid comes a day, when Ganji Chudail themed hair serums become the new sensation cause Nykaa wanted to get social media audiences buying their haircare. Totally sidelining their own brand values and purpose”, added Agarwal.

Samit Sinha, Founder and Managing Partner, Alchemist Brand Consulting, said that one needs to see this ad by Nykaa in a context now. "In a digital world, essentially its content. You have to understand and see this ad in the spirit of how a social media netizen will see this. The ad definitely breaks through the clatter because the ad is so unexpected. Secondly, it uses a format that makes it a little engaging. Ultimately people will remember Nykaa and I think that was the whole intention behind it. It's not your typical expected ad from a beauty brand. The collaboration in itself is uncanny but the comic book format is not just relevant for children now but for people across ages," said Sinha.

He echoed Agarwal's thoughts noting that the stunt may not have longevity:"It's not a long term thing though. This isn't thematic advertising for a brand. This is advertising that helps the brand get some short term salience. Maybe they will do more unusual things like this, using the similar format but I don't see them adopting this as a long term brand communicating strategy. I might be proven wrong, which is one day I am not sure we are ready for. This isn't the most appropriate way though to stay in people's minds and be talked about for. Just for the sake of buzz and virality it might be cool but for building a brand value, they might have to retort to some conventional methods.”

When e4m reached out to N.Chandramouli, CEO, TRA Research, he explained the ad in a whole different light, talking about the effects of the ad. He said, “The depiction of a bald 'chudail' (a term with negative connotations) creates an exaggerated identity that, while intended to be humorous, risks alienating viewers. Associating baldness with a 'chudail' could be seen as trivializing a real and sensitive issue, potentially having a negative impact on how the brand is perceived by its audience. By equating the 'before' state of a woman to that of a 'Ganji Chudail,' the ad could inadvertently send a problematic message about beauty standards.

The narrative in the ad also follows a classic "before-and-after" trope, where the 'chudail' is rejected by an 'alpha male' due to her baldness. While intended to be comedic, this storyline reinforces the idea that a woman's attractiveness is linked to her hair, which may resonate poorly with viewers who feel that this reinforces unrealistic beauty ideals. The transformation through the use of a serum feels reductive and fails to address deeper conversations about self-worth and beauty diversity, which are particularly relevant today.

Moreover, the cultural sensitivity of using terms like 'chudail,' coupled with the comedic treatment of baldness, may not resonate well across all demographics. While the ad aims to entertain, it is important for brands like Nykaa to consider the potential backlash from stereotyping physical traits or reinforcing negative associations with appearance, especially when their core brand values are centered on empowerment and self-care”, he added.