A baritone voiceover, an A-list director, a song penned by a legendary lyricist, and some stunning sets and action sequences—this five-minute video making waves on social media over the past few days could pass for a full-fledged Bollywood flick. But it is not.
It is advertising Manchurian masala.
The commercial for Ching’s Secret, which was released on YouTube on Aug. 19, stars Bollywood actors Ranveer Singh and Tamannaah Bhatia. Titled “Ranveer Ching Returns—the war for Desi Chinese,” the ad, seemingly inspired by Mad Max, depicts a post-apocalyptic world. Directed by Rohit Shetty, it has all the key ingredients of a Bollywood film, including a fight scene and a song, lyrics penned by Bollywood legend Gulzar.
In the end, Indianised Chinese food, carried by Singh, rescues the world from hunger and evil.
It’s still early days but the ad has generated some stellar numbers on social media. Three days after its launch the video already touched 3.5 million views.
While Mumbai-based Capital Foods, the owners of Ching’s Secret, has refused to divulge the ad’s budget, Singh is one of the most sought-after and expensive Bollywood actors. Filmmaker Shetty, on the other hand, has made some of the costliest films in India.
All this to make Indians buy more paneer chilli masala, soups and hakka noodles masala.
“We want to be a pan-India brand,” said Ajay Gupta, managing director, at Capital Foods.
The company, launched by Gupta in 1996, sells instant noodles, spices for home-cooked Chinese meals, sauces, and condiments under the Ching’s Secret and Smith and Jones brands.
Over the years, with the popularity of Chinese food growing, Ching’s has become a Rs400-crore brand. Investors have also shown interest in the company, which competes with Nestle’s Maggi noodles and Hindustan Unilever’s Knorr soups.
But the last two years have been phenomenal for Ching’s. “Mothers are really trying to serve restaurant-quality food at home and we have seen sales grow by almost 40% over the last two years,” said Gupta.
He wants Ching’s to grow even further and an action-packed Bollywood ad-film might just help it become more “mass-market.”
As a result, the company has increased its advertising budget to Rs75 crore in the current financial year, up 30% from last year. While Gupta did not divulge the budget for this campaign, he said it is “fit enough to make a small-budget Hindi movie.”
Gupta says this over-the-top advertising is worth it. According to him, Indian “housewives” are now realizing that inexpensive masalas, like those sold by Ching’s, make cooking Chinese food at home a breeze. (Ed. note: we hope they’re selling to men too, and not just “mothers” and “housewives.”)
Chinese food remains the most popular foreign cuisine among Indians, especially in the metros.
Gupta said that the goal is to convince households that eat Chinese food outside to cook it at home.
Ching’s is also expanding distribution, especially in the southern states. As a result, the campaign will be dubbed into languages such as Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam.