Orry turns ‘wise man’ for CRED’s Black Friday Sale

Expect CRED to turn to influencers to promote its ongoing Black Friday Sale (Nov 25-27), and the cherry of its picks is the known yet unknown face of the monthly zeitgeist - Orry.

Known as the bestie to the most popular stars, Orhan Awatramani (yes, that’s his real name) regurgitates a mix of self-improvement and spiritual talk whilst propelling all the objects one stands to win or buy during the Black Friday Sale of CRED.

These include an Omega Seamaster worth Rs 9.20 lakh or Nike Air Force 1 x Tiffany sneakers costing Rs 1.50 lakh.

“Money is not the root of all problems, but a lack of money is the root of all problems,” he remarks to counter the assumption that all self-improvement gurus preach non-materialistic lifestyles. 

CRED, earlier this week, sent hammers and wrenches to influencers to destroy their watches and phones so that they could go on and get the Omega Seamaster and iPhone 15 Pro Max respectively.

Black Friday Sale has taken off big time in India over the past few years despite having little to no cultural connection to India; it is a case of cultural appropriation fuelled by discounts and offers.

Admitad, a performance marketing agency estimates that brands will see a 70% rise in e-commerce shopping on Black Friday in 2023 compared to 2022.

It is then no wonder CRED has ultra-luxury brands such as Omega, Bvlgari, and Louis Vuitton and highly aspirational ones like Nike sneakers, Birkenstocks, and Apple TV on sale during this time.

A noteworthy aspect of the Orry video or the X posts from influencers is the distinct lack of disclaimers stating it is a paid partnership because it flouts ASCI’s social media influencer guidelines.

A self-regulatory promoting body, ASCI, which stands for the Advertising Standards Council of India, in its social media guidelines, mandates the disclosure of paid collaborations on influencer posts.