MUMBAI: Fans of the hit Korean global hit Squid Game and of Korean cuisine have a double delight coming their way. Not only will they get to the watch its second season when it hits Netflix on 26 December they will also get to slurp up their Korean noodles while watching the show.
Food major Knorr – part of Hindustan Unilever- has partnered with Netflix to launch a special edition Korean ramen range inspired by the show. This includes Squid Game-themed packs in three flavors: Jjajangmyeon, Spicy Kimchi, and Gochujang Chicken.
A 90-second film has been launched featuring masked guards and a front man challenging a group of young participants to finish a bowl of spicy Korean ramen in 60 seconds. If they fail, the frontman warns, they will be eliminated. The participants dig into their bowls and slurp away to their soul’s delight, but they also find it spicy. The red light-green light doll, Young-hee, makes a cameo and looks around. As the seconds tick down, one of them drops down a trap door as he has been tardy in his eating. The others hurry to finish their bowls. As the stop clock stops, those who don’t finish, drop down trapdoors.
And the front man removes his mask to reveal himself to be Gulshan Grover mouthing his famous dialogue: “Front man. Nooo baaaad maaan.”
Throughout the film, the background music and chants are inspired from the Squid Games series, making for an eerie and thrilling film. It ends with a voice over challenging audiences watching the film to dare to enter the dare to slurp challenge.
Consumers can do so by picking up a special Knorr Squid Game pack which features designs from the series and includes a QR code for the Dare-to-Slurp game, offering them a chance to win a trip to Seoul and attend a Squid Game fan event.
The film – which also has a 40 second version - is being blasted across YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and heard on Spotify. On YouTube, it had generated 10 million views in just nine days.
An extensive out of home advertising campaign has been planned.
As of the night of 19 December, key opinion leaders (read influencers) had been posting videos about them taking part in the challenge. Knorr’s digital campaign features 45 of them including Orry, Urfi, Falguni Pathak, and Yashraj Mukhate, taking on the Dare to Slurp challenge. Underground rappers Big Deal, Yungsta, Yoki, and Seige are also creating exclusive raps for the campaign.
