Marketing strategy: Swiggy sending fake ₹2000 note for ‘Farzi’ show promotion

Swiggy Instamart, known for its unique marketing strategies, has once again set an example of a quirky promotion method by sending out fake ₹2,000 notes to its customers for the advertisement of a new action-thriller titled ‘Farzi’, streaming on Amazon Prime OTT platform. 

Half the country has received a counterfeit ₹2000 note along with their order, with Bollywood actor Shahid Kapoor’s face printed on it. This marketing strategy was implemented in collaboration with Prime Video. 

The web series ‘Farzi’ is based on a con man (Shahid Kapoor). Created by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK, best known for The Family Man, the show also stars Vijay Sethupathi.

Apart from Shahid Kapoor's picture in place of Mahatma Gandhi on ₹2000 fake notes, one can also see the image of Vijay Sethupathi on a few notes. 

Speaking to a media portal, Ashish Lingamneni, Head of Marketing at Swiggy said that it's been a thrilling experience to work with Prime Video to promote the Farzi web series in a unique way.

“We have sent Farzi a note flier with all Swiggy Instamart orders to spread the word about the show. It captured the attention of thousands of Instamart users across the country. We have got an amazing response and reaction from them,” he added. 

Streamed on February 10 on Amazon Prime Video, Farzi is an eight-part series that also features south star Vijay Sethupathi, Kay Kay Menon, Raashi Khanna, Bhuvan Arora, Amol Palekar, and Regina Cassandra.

Shahid, known for his performance in films such as "Kaminey", "Haider", "Udta Punjab", "Padmavaat", and "Jersey", said "Farzi" was the "best opportunity" with "best filmmakers" to collaborate with.

"We have a stellar cast whether it's Raashi, Vijay sir, Kay Kay sir even the supporting cast with Bhuvan who is playing Firoz and Amol Palekar sir, Regina is also playing a little part in the show. So it's full of very interesting artists," he said, praising co-writers Sita Menon and Suman Kumar.

Shahid Kapoor plays the role of Sunny, an ambitious Mumbaikar trying to find a place for himself in a cutthroat world.