Knorr gambles on Samay Raina to sell Korean Ramen

Back in December 2024, fractional CMO Deepti Karthik recounted how she and her team regretted an influencer collaboration with stand-up comic Samay Raina.

Raina insisted on using a format of his own and resisted the brand’s edits. The result? A post completely out of sync with the brand’s image. It was taken down from all brand channels.

Yet, as Karthik noted on LinkedIn, “That post resulted in sales worth more than Rs 25 lakh in the next two months and ended up being the most profitable influencer collaboration we had ever done. It just did not make sense. For someone who chooses dark humour, someone whose fan page is full of vile comments, how is he influencing purchase?”

That contradiction of a controversial comic selling a family-friendly product is at the centre of Knorr’s latest influencer campaign for its Korean Ramen range. 

Conceptualised by Pepper Creative, the ad shows a Knorr brand manager and the agency team brainstorming ideas for a viral video. “I’ve got a bad feeling about it,” the manager mutters. Her instincts are quickly validated.

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A post shared by Samay Raina (@maisamayhoon)

Raina appears, tears up what seems to be a script, and plunges the room into chaos. At one point, he spills tea on the three ramen bowls while everyone recoils in horror, he looks pleased with himself. In the final scene, he suggests they use this entire mess as the campaign.

There is, curiously, almost no mention of the ramen itself. The three flavours, Kimchi, Gochujang, and Jjajangmyeon, appear only in the hashtags of Raina’s Instagram post barring a short glimpse. The video is more a commentary on how unpredictable and “brand unsafe” Raina is, than a pitch for the product.

Raina has courted controversy before. An episode of his show India’s Got Latent sparked outrage over its use of vulgar language. The show was eventually pulled.

The Knorr campaign is one of Raina’s more prominent collaborations this year, the other being a video where he dresses as a K-drama character, a moment that is referenced in this film.

Knorr first launched its Korean Ramen range in December 2024 through a partnership with Netflix’s Squid Game. Its Dare to Slurp challenge invited participants to finish a bowl in 60 seconds. Those who failed were “eliminated”.

“With the Dare to Slurp campaign, we are not only highlighting Knorr’s Korean Ramen range but also celebrating the growing influence of K-culture and its ability to connect people across geographies,” read a post on HUL’s website.