‘Rs 442 for two bananas’ — if it weren’t for the recent video Rahul Bose uploaded to Twitter, most would be looking for a missing decimal point here. Except, the actor was charged that very amount by a five-star hotel in Chandigarh when he ordered two bananas from room service. While the video, where Bose maintains a polite tone and straight face, has Twitterati in splits, brands have decided to smartly capitalise on the situation.
Brands such as Oyo, The Park and Amazon have swiftly sent in an army of memes, each taking a jab on the overpriced fruit. The brilliance of it, however, lies in how these enterprises have used the situation to promote their own products and services. For instance, Reliance Smart uploaded an image with a giant bowl filled with bananas, depicting that, in the retail chain, one can get a large number of the fruit for Rs 442.
Other hotels, such as The Park Bangalore and Taj Santacruz, Mumbai, have emphasised that they serve complimentary bananas! Some are even expressing that their products — such as a room at Oyo or a pizza at Pizza Hut — would burn a smaller hole in your pocket than the infamous bananas.
While a social-media marketing strategy that capitalises upon topical events is not a new phenomenon for these brands, the quick-wittedness of some of the people behind keyboards is impressive, to say the least. So, let the memes pour in.
