The campaign that has already reached over 11.2mn users is aimed at revamping the search result for Desi Masala

Days ahead of International Women’s Day, netizens noticed peculiar tweets with the names of Indian masalas - Pepper, Elaichi, Dal Chini - on their Twitter and Instagram feeds. Hours later, Swiggy India’s largest food delivery platform announced the launch of an innovative and clutter-breaking campaign aimed to bring about a change in the objectionable images of women that pop up when one searches for the term ‘Desi Masala’.

‘Desi Masala’ should ideally bring to mind images of spices. However, the internet has a different story to tell and unfortunately, is inundated with unsavoury images of women, tagged demeaning captions such as ‘Hot Desi Masala’ and ‘Desi Masala Girl’. As a result, an unsuspecting query to find out about the flavours of India is corrupted by the unruly preferences of certain section online users.

To commemorate this Women’s Day, Swiggy is urging netizens to flood the Internet with posts and pictures tagging authentic Indian spices on websites, blogs, forums, and social media platforms that will help get rid of the lurid connotation that currently exists. We called and the internet answered!

Desi Masala Mania

The digital campaign saw users and influencers tweet the name of a masala of their choice. The campaign’s reveal witnessed wide participation from influencers and users, all rallying for a change. Swiggy also launched a digital video explaining the cause and urged users to share images of the real desi masalas this Women’s Day. Within two days the campaign reached 11.2mn users and has over 215K + views for its video.