Ranbir And Alia Spread ‘Smiles’ On Tiktok Through Unique Lay’s #Smiledekedekho Challenge

Jyothi Venkatesh

LAY’S, India’s favourite potato chip brand, took TikTok by storm through its Smile Deke Dekho Duet Challenge, featuring brand ambassadors and youth icons, Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt. What makes this challenge truly ‘one-of-a-kind’ is the fact that it features Ranbir and Alia sharing ‘Smiles’ with their many fans and followers. The challenge urges users to share maximum smiles in less than 10 seconds, with the catch that the smile must be unique and different. The challenge saw over 5 billion impressions and 10,000 user generated content painting TikTok with Smiles through the fun challenge in a matter of just 72 hours.

As a pioneering youth brand, LAY’S has always been on a mission to offer a joyful interruption to the busy, everyday lives of its consumers and the new #SmileDekeDekho Duet challenge is a perfect embodiment of this brand mission, as the challenge urges consumers across India to share their smiles and spread joy.

The video features Ranbir having a blast as he is shown depicting a multitude of expressions and ‘Smiles’ while posing with the new LAY’S Smile pack. The ace actor is seen smiling, winking, and pouting, while grooving in the challenge video. Alia too is seen showcasing a wide array of expressions and sharing all kinds of ‘Smiles’ while posing with her LAY’S Smile pack.

Expressing his thoughts on the unique challenge, Mr. Dilen Gandhi, Sr Director and Category Head – Foods, PepsiCo India, said, “LAY’S has always been the front-runner in innovation, be it in terms of our flavours or our communication strategy. After the resounding success of our social media campaign, we are thrilled for our latest digital activation – the #SmileDekeDekho Duet challenge on TikTok, led by our brand ambassadors, Ranbir and Alia. It’s very encouraging to see how TikTok users have smiled all the way by producing some amazing user generated content while enjoying the duet challenge with their favourite youth icons.”

Sachin Sharma, Director, Sales and Partnership, TikTok India, said, “We are thrilled to have once again collaborated with LAY’S for this unique challenge. This campaign is a reflection of TikTok’s mission to inspire creativity and bring joy. It is encouraging to see our users actively participate in this challenge in innovative ways. This successful partnership is a testament of the value brands see in TikTok’s unique offerings and its vibrant and engaging 200 million user community. We look forward to continuing this alliance.”

Launched in October this year, the LAY’S Smile Deke Dekho campaign brought home the global LAY’S Smile campaign, with the introduction of limited-edition LAY’S Smile packs, which feature six different smiles corresponding to the six different flavour variants. The campaign is an attempt to convey the flavours story of the brand in a meaningful and distinctive way, all at the back of a simple insight – smiles lead to connections and LAY’S brings a smile to consumers faces, and hence, different flavours of LAY’S can lead to different smiles, leading to different connections. What made this idea unique was the fact that it was brought alive entirely through packaging – the first of its kind in India.

LAY’S activated several activities for its Smile Deke Dekho campaign, including the on-boarding on Ranbir and Alia as brand ambassadors and a massive influencer outreach program, engaging with 750+ influencers on social media. The recently-launched TikTok Duet challenge is the brand’s latest attempt at furthering its path-breaking campaign in India.

The overall campaign has been conceptualized by Wunderman Thompson