The second edition of Flipkart’s ‘Sasa Lele’ summer sale campaign shines a spotlight on Kodinhi—Kerala’s famed “twin town.” It cleverly uses the village’s identity as a metaphor for the classic “buy one, get one free” offer. The campaign also reflects a growing trend in advertising, where brands are increasingly turning to location-led storytelling to create more distinctive narratives. Recently, Ponds, in collaboration with Ogilvy, set a campaign in Phalodi to drive conversations around skincare and climate.
While Flipkart’s concept has been appreciated for its humour and inventive approach, the internet remains divided over its execution.
The campaign, titled Kodinhi Code and conceptualised by 22 feet Tribal Worldwide, imagines a village where everything appears in pairs, a nod to Flipkart’s double offers and summer deals aimed at boosting mid-year sales. The video has clocked 43 million views within three days of its release on YouTube.
Kodinhi is famously associated with an unusually high number of twins, with more than 400 pairs among nearly 2,000 families, making it an apt setting for the campaign. Though it remains unclear whether the twins featured in the film are actually from the village.
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Double the deal
What particularly stands out in the ad is its understated humour and comic timing. The pauses and expressions elevate the storytelling, especially in a scene where a nurse hands a newborn baby boy to new parents, only for another nurse to walk in moments later with a second baby, joking, “Boy one, get one free.” The stunned silence from the parents is quickly broken by the father clarifying, “Just a joke.”
While Kodinhi’s twin phenomenon continues to puzzle researchers, with no definitive genetic or environmental explanation, Flipkart has found a rather on-brand explanation: Double the people, double the deals.
It took the campaign a step further by weaving the concept directly into its app experience through a dedicated “Kodinhi Store.” The feature playfully suggests that the shopping choices of Kodinhi residents unlock special double-value deals for users across the country, extending the campaign’s twin-themed narrative beyond the ad film itself.
In a press statement, Pratik Shetty, Flipkart’s vice president of growth and marketing, said the campaign was designed to bring the idea of “double sale” alive through a quirky interpretation of India’s famous twin town. According to him, the phenomenon of twins became a metaphor for “double excitement” and bigger value for shoppers navigating a high-inflation market.
The campaign also arrives at a time when India’s e-commerce platforms are facing mounting competition from quick-commerce players such as Zepto and Blinkit especially in impulse-driven summer purchases. By positioning “Sasa Lele” as a high-impact value event, Flipkart appears to be reinforcing its presence in key categories like electronics and home appliances, which continue to drive a large share of its non-festive sales.
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Execution falls flat
Despite the campaign’s inventive premise, the response online has been divided. Many viewers criticised the ad for relying on broad stereotypes and surface-level visual cues, arguing that it reflected more of a quick internet search than an authentic understanding of Kodinhi and its people.
Several users pointed out that neither the setting nor the characters felt representative of the real village. Others criticised the Malayalam text used in the film, calling it inaccurate and carelessly executed. Some even labelled the campaign “misleading,” urging the brand to take it down.
One of the users commented, “The location shown in this video is not Kodinhi, not the people. atleast be authentic by showing real Kodinhi even if you wanna hire actors for the video….”
Another said, “and the Malayalam written on the Wall is hilarious.. seriously???? shame on you Flipkart for doing this ridiculous looking ad.”
“Very poor visuals. Kodinhi village has its own distinct culture and dialect. This is a misleading representation of the village and of Kerala; Flipkart, please take this down @flipkart,” read yet another.
A user commented: “The name Kodinhi is not even spelled properly in Malayalam.”
Even viewers who appreciated the humour and concept felt the execution lacked depth, suggesting the creative team could have benefited from consulting people familiar with the region before bringing the campaign to life.
“Nice effort but could’ve consulted one person from kodinhi or at the very least someone who’s done more than a Google search of it before making this,” a comment read.
Views are personal.
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)