Croma's 'Uphaar Range' adds to the surge of marketing gimmicks

After promoting its mithaai range Uphaar by Croma, the electronics brand has now revealed that it was just a joke. 

On Monday, Croma initiated a campaign promoting its new venture- Uphaar- a brand extension into sweets like motichoor ladoo, kaju katli and soan papdi for the festive season. The brand released print ads and even started a new social media page for Uphaar by Croma. The campaign urged its followers to register on the website to receive free samples at home. 

Expectedly, media publications and Croma's followers on social media took the bait. However, a day later the brand revealed that it was only a joke. The posts are a part of the brand's Mithai Ke Budget Mein Gadgets campaign.

The campaign aims to suggest its products as an alternative to sweets for Diwali gifting. The brand's message is that its electronic products are priced at almost the same rate as the sweets.

With print ads and social media pages, the brand aims to fool people into talking about it. The campaign managed to garner earned PR. However, these fake gimmicks by brands have become quite regular these days.

On November 4, social media influencer Urfi Javed faked her arrest to promote her new fashion collection FREAKIN’ UORFICATION for the brand Freakins India. However, it didn't go as planned as Mumbai Police booked her.

Earlier this year, a clip of Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor posing with a boy for a selfie and then throwing away his phone went viral on social media. It was later revealed that it was an ad campaign for Oppo India.

In December 2022, Anushka Sharma got into a tiff with Puma India on social media for using her image without her permission. It slowly revealed itself to be another brand promotion to announce her as the brand ambassador.