Zomato takes a bold step with a comedic roast show to celebrate its 16th birthday

In the clip, Raina is seen using explicit language and wearing a Swiggy T-shirt.

In a daring marketing move, Zomato has launched a unique roast show featuring stand-up comedian Samay Raina.

This unconventional campaign marks Zomato's 16th anniversary and showcases the brand's willingness to take risks in its promotional strategies.

The first clip, released by Samay Raina, humorously targets Zomato’s pop-up notifications and even pokes fun at their customer support team. The use of explicit language in the roast, as well as Raina’s choice to wear a T-shirt from Zomato’s direct competitor Swiggy, makes this a particularly bold move for the brand.

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A post shared by Samay Raina (@maisamayhoon)

Interestingly, Deepinder Goyal, CEO of Zomato, is seen sitting in the audience, adding a layer of authenticity and endorsement to the show.

The clip also reveals that the audience consists of Zomato's employees, with Albinder Dhindsa, co-founder of Blinkit, seen seated alongside Goyal.

According to a source, stand-up comedians like Shreeja Chaturvedi, Swati Sachdeva, and Gaurav Kapoor will also join this roast battle. The brand encouraged the stand-up comedians to be brutal with their jokes.

The clips from other comedians will be released on Zomato's social media channels as part of this campaign, aiming to engage and entertain their audience while celebrating the company's milestone.

This approach is reminiscent of Netflix's roast format used to promote films and shows, but with a twist—this time, it's the brand itself under the comedic lens.

This is not the first time Zomato has worked with comedians. They have previously created multiple series of videos with Samay Raina and their former brand manager Sahiba Bali, where Raina used non-veg humour.

Zomato has also collaborated with stand-up comedians Gaurav Gupta and Gaurav Kapoor, featuring routines that play on cultural and familial themes, such as the Punjabi and Baniya backgrounds of the comedians.

Side by side, CEO Deepinder Goyal is also running a podcast series, Breaking Bread, on Zomato's official YouTube page. In this series, Goyal interviews restaurateurs, pub owners, QSR owners, and other industry professionals.

The podcast covers topics such as business growth, category development, and the challenges faced within the industry.

The recent success of the Pretty Good Roast Show, which featured personalities like roast master Ashish Solanki, Huma Qureshi, Kusha Kapila, Anubhav Singh Bassi, and Aakash Gupta, may have influenced Zomato's decision to create their own roast show. The videos from this series garnered significant viewership on YouTube, indicating that audiences are receptive to this format of humour.