In an unexpected twist, Knorr has partnered with stand-up comic Samay Raina to promote its Korean Ramen range-despite a previously regrettable collaboration with the same influencer.
Back in December 2024, Deepti Karthik, fractional CMO, reflected on a failed influencer campaign with Raina. He had insisted on using his own unfiltered comedic style, resisting brand edits. The final post, completely misaligned with Knorr’s tone, was taken down from all official channels.
But numbers told a different story.
“That post resulted in sales worth more than ₹25 lakh in two months and became our most profitable influencer campaign ever. It made no sense. Someone known for dark humour, whose fan pages are full of vile comments-how was he driving purchase?”
– Deepti Karthik on LinkedIn
That paradox is now at the heart of Knorr’s latest influencer campaign, conceptualised by Pepper Creative, featuring Raina again-this time to launch its three Korean Ramen flavours: Kimchi, Gochujang, and Jjajangmyeon.
The ad opens with a Knorr brand manager voicing doubts during a brainstorming session with her agency. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” she says-foreshadowing what follows. Raina enters, rejects the script, spills tea on the ramen bowls, creates chaos, and eventually proposes that they use the behind-the-scenes disaster as the actual campaign.
Surprisingly, the ramen gets little attention. The flavours appear only in the hashtags of Raina’s Instagram post, with only a fleeting glimpse onscreen. The video is more meta-commentary on Raina’s unpredictable and “brand-unsafe” reputation than a direct product pitch.
Raina is no stranger to controversy. An earlier episode of his show India’s Got Latent drew backlash for explicit language and was eventually pulled. This campaign, however, marks one of his higher-profile partnerships, building on an earlier viral video where he dressed as a K-drama character-a reference also woven into this ad.
Knorr first introduced its Korean Ramen range in December 2024, tied to Netflix’s Squid Game. The launch campaign, Dare to Slurp, challenged viewers to finish a bowl in 60 seconds-fail, and they were “eliminated.”
A post on HUL’s website summarized the brand’s intent:
“With the Dare to Slurp campaign, we are not only highlighting Knorr’s Korean Ramen range but also celebrating the growing influence of K-culture and its ability to connect people across geographies.”
In this case, Knorr is also celebrating the unpredictability of internet fame-gambling once again on a comic who’s anything but conventional.
