Parle Monaco’s latest ad takes a cue from the viral energy of the Cockroach Janata Party meme, but flips its target – instead of institutional apathy, it goes after the small social performances people put up with every day.
The campaign features Orry, known for his ubiquitous presence across India’s influencer circuit, calling out everyday moments of forced pleasantness: the empty “noted” at work, being quietly ghosted on a friends’ WhatsApp group, or faking a smile around relatives. His message is simple – stop pretending to be fine and start being openly annoyed, or “salty,” instead of adjusting yourself to suit everyone else, a dig at the popular “swaad anusar” (as per taste) phrase often used by celebrity chefs.
Staying true to his internet persona, Orry uses the ad to rally people around a self-declared Salty Public Party, encouraging followers to embrace low-grade irritation as a shared identity rather than hide it. The campaign’s tagline, “Monaco Khao. Sada Salty Raho,” ties the biscuit brand directly to this idea of unapologetic bluntness.
The ad borrows the structure of meme culture – taking a term of mockery and turning it into a badge of identity – while keeping the tone light and biscuit-brand appropriate. Whether encouraging people to stay salty all the time is good advice is up for debate, but as far as attention-grabbing brand moments go, Parle Monaco’s timing with the trend is hard to miss.
