'Welcome To The Roast Of Zomato': Delivery Company Holds A Self-Roasting Show Featuring Rival 'Swiggy' And Comedians

Zomato is one of the key players in the delivery and quick-service business and is known for some remarkable marketing campaigns that it has carried out in the recent past.

In a recent development, in a campaign that can be deemed something different, the NSE-listed brand has thrown open another interesting avenue of exhibiting the brand and its name amongst the larger populace.

Zomatos's Self-Roasting

Zomato conducted a roast like no other. This roast was different as a starter; it was a 'self-roast' as the brand held a show, inviting popular comedians from across the board to roast itself.

The Gurugram-based quick service company made this happen on the special occasion of the company's 16th birthday.

Apart from being a self-roast, this event stood out, as it also 'featured' its rival brand Swiggy.

This roast featured popular Indian comedians like Gaurav Kapoor and Samay Raina.

Well, not that the brand representative showed up for the event, but one of the comedians was seen wearing the Swiggy delivery partner uniform while delivering the roast.

This, according to some, is unique, as it is often seen as taboo to feature a rival brand in one's advertisement or campaign. In the past, inter-brand rivalry and any exchange of this kind have led to litigations.

Deepinder Goyal In Attendance

The roast also featured the CEO of the company and the man who, in many ways, is the face of its operations, by default, Deepinder Goyal. In the audience was also the head of one of the company's priced acquisitions, Blinkit, formerly known as Grofers. Blinkit CEO Albinder Dhindsa was seated right next to his Zomato boss.

This 16th anniversary campaign also involved a newspaper advertisement, which, to put it lightly, was designed to mock many political advertisements that are illicitly put across cities by supporters, fawning over their leaders. This poster intentionally featured crass tropes like 'koti koti dhayanvad' and referred to company officials as 'pramukh' and 'upp-pramukh'.

The company, apart from conducting this show, has also put out videos of the said roast online for people to see.

The company shares listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) gained 2.80 per cent or Rs 6.07, on Friday, July 12, closing at Rs 223.21 per share.