Here is how a viral reel turned into a Lay’s collab for Bunshah

Five weeks ago, influencer Bunshah posted a reel that reviewed the new Lay’s Magic Masala flavour. What followed was a series of events leading up to the brand resurrecting its original flavour for all its enthusiasts.

On October 30, 2023, Bunshah posted a reel in which the influencer was seen utterly disappointed in what Lay’s had done to his favourite Magic Masala flavour. The reel quickly went viral, raking in 7 million views and 200,000 shares across social media platforms. Soon after the viral reel, Lay’s reached out to Bunshah and affirmed that the brand planned to reintroduce the original flavour, and the new variant was only experimental. 

Interestingly, Bingo also asserted itself in the middle of this exchange, offering Bunshah a truckload of Bingo Masala Chips. But apparently, Bunshah’s heart was set on Lay’s. Fast forward a few weeks, the brand invited Bunshah to witness the revival of the original Magic Masala at a Lay’s factory, which the influencer posted on his socials as well. 

The way the entire story comes together, it almost looks like a script. We wondered if the collaboration was pre-planned, in which case the post from the influencer would violate ASCI guidelines for non-disclosure. However, Viraj Sheth, who is the co-founder and CEO of Monk Entertainment, the talent management agency behind Zervaan Bunshah, clarified in an X post that the exchange was organic and not scripted.

He said, “None of this was planned. Just super fast thinking and execution from all parties involved.”

We got in touch with Sheth to understand what went into turning a viral reel into a brand collaboration for Bunshah. Also, if Lay’s was really in plans of reintroducing its Magic Masala, why do it with Bunshah, who is still fairly small on socials?  

The whole idea to birth a Lay’s collaboration for Bunshah came after the first reel had gone viral. As per Sheth, at that point, even Bingo had taken part in the conversation, but the agency wanted to explore opportunities with Lay’s. He says, “Lay’s had already sent a customer support response to Zervaan by that time. So, I thought if I could reach out to someone from PepsiCo, we could make a larger story out of this.”

Given the time required to reinstate the old flavour, Monk-E ensured that momentum was retained by sending Zervaan to the Lay's factory to oversee the process and show it to the audience through another reel. The impromptu move aimed to reassure consumers and maintain enthusiasm for the reissued product.

“We didn’t want to lose any momentum on this. The original idea was to wait for the flavour to be reintroduced and then we were going to do a reel to remind consumers of how it all happened. But that would have taken time. So, I proposed a sustenance reel, which shows Zervaan going to the factory and representing the Magic Masala lovers.”

The collaboration culminated in the launch of the original Lay's flavour, with images of Bunshah prominently featured on the packaging.