The Gutka Guy: Story of A Common Man Turned Into Social Media Sensation
[The Gutka guy – A story of another social media sensation, where a person chewing Gutka unknowingly became the ‘viral sensation’. ]
India and New Zealand were battling out for an engrossing test cricket match at the city of Kanpur in India. Suddenly the camera zooms to a person in the crowd, who was nonchalantly talking on a phone, while chewing Gutka. Wikipedia defines Gutka as “Gutka, ghutka, guṭkha or betel quid is a chewing tobacco preparation made of crushed areca nut, tobacco, catechu, paraffin wax, slaked lime and sweet or savory flavourings”.
Gutka is very popular in North India, specially the city of Kanpur which hosts the top selling brands since ages. So, its a common thing to do. But as we know social media, some netizen picked that clip and the meme feast started. The video clip went viral and got mention in popular media like DNA and and Times of India.
The clip and meme were doing the rounds on WhatsApp. The Gutka Guy after getting so much attention, returned to match venu next day with a message – “Gutka kahana galat baat hai” (chewing tobacco/gutka is harmful). So, thanks for the words of advise and wisdom.
The whole episode about Gutka guy highlights the power of social media, where a non trivial event can become viral, without the consent of the person. On the other hand, renowned brands keep working in the search of holy grail of creating viral content. Interestingly, we didn’t see moment marketing on this episode. I guess Gutak Guy was a great opportunity for the toothpaste / mouth freshener product categories to capitalize on.
Interestingly, Ajay Devgan, a famous Bollywood actor and the brand ambassador of another juba kesari brand, got tagged in many tweets. One can look at interesting tweets in the video posted here.
Thank God it was all done with humor and good spirit.
