New Delhi: The video of young women enacting the fictional character ‘Manjulika’ and scaring passengers inside Noida-Greater Noida metro train has gone viral on all social media platforms. Morever, she was not alone as two men dressed up as characters from the popular Netflix series ‘Money Heist’ and K-drama ‘Squid Game’ were also seen in separate videos. As soon as these videos went viral, many speculated that it was meant to be a prank or shot to gain social media likes, but the truth is actually very different.
It was actually a part of clever marketing strategy for BoAT, a Delhi-based electronic gadget brand. The actors donning the odd costumes entered the Metro in a promotional video featuring the collaboration of BoAt and Netflix.
Meanwhile, Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC) also came up to confirm that the videos were part of a commercial advertisement shot on the metro premises with its permission.
PRESS STATEMENT REGARDING noida metro VIDEO VIRAL ON VARIOUS SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS;
— CEO, NOIDA Authority #IndiaFightsCorona (@CeoNoida) January 24, 2023
This is to clarify that video going viral on various Social Media Platforms is a part of a commercial advertisement shooting which was held on 22.12.2022 under approved NMRC Policy…
“This is to clarify that video going viral on various social media platforms is a part of a commercial advertisement shooting which was held on December 22, 2022, under approved NMRC Policy for Film Shooting. Also, this video clip is morphed and edited NMRC Managing Director Ritu Maheshwari wrote on Twitter on Tuesday evening.
“The NMRC has approved Film Shooting Policy where it provides its infrastructure, including rolling stock on a rental basis to earn non-fare box revenue. Ad film shooting was carried out by M/s Creative Productions (A Delhi-based film production house) for ‘boAt air dopes’ on the NMRC corridor,” Mrs Maheshwari added.
BoAT also shared the two-minute advertisement on Instagram which shows the fictional characters roaming around the metro compartments. However, after some time, they start listening to music on a boAt speaker and headphones.
“Sound so powerful your favourite characters came to life. Our all-new Stream Edition is what caused the recent #ViralMetroIncident,” the company clarified in the caption.
While some people were impressed with the cleverly placed advertisement, others weren’t convinced by the clarification, saying public infrastructure should not have been used in such a way. One user wrote, ”Is it ok to harass/scare people in the name of advertisement? To make money, will they allow the company to make fun of ordinary people?” Another commented, ” Are the ppl in the train hired as well? Or this was done with their knowledge Or they were caught unaware? If the latter is true .. it is called harassment.”
