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Influencer Marketing

Lay’s India responds to creator Bunshah’s deinfluencing tirade against its Magic Masala variant

He was furious with the brand for reducing the spicy variant to a sweet snack.

PepsiCo-owned Lay’s India has reassured creator Zervaan J Bunshah that the Magic Masala variant he loved will return soon, and the one he picked up and railed against on Instagram was a limited-edition pack.

Famous for his caricatures on Parsis, his video on October 30, 2023 was a deinfluencing tirade against Lay’s Magic Masala.

A brief excerpt of his rant:

“What have you done to my Magic Masala? The magic is no longer there. Now, it is meetha masala. This is possibly the worst thing you could have done. Are you out of your goddamn mind?”

Lay’s India responds to creator Bunshah’s deinfluencing tirade against its Magic Masala variant

Ironic to his video, the new limited-edition pack says ‘New Masala, More Magic’.

On first glance, we (afaqs!) wondered if it was a paid collaboration stretching into more than one video and searched for any tag which indicated it – ASCI social media influencer guidelines mandate disclosure of paid advertising – but did not find any.

The limited-edition pack
The limited-edition pack

Turns out, Bunshah was genuinely aghast at the lack of spice in the Magic Masala.

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