“Soan Papdi is back in circulation this Diwali, with all the fervour. It refuses to die,” I said, pouring myself another whisky. “Every year, the memes return, the jokes get recycled, and the poor sweet gets blamed for everything wrong with Diwali gifting. You would think the country had collectively decided never to buy it again.”
Vermajee smiled, swirling the whisky in his glass. “And yet, here we are, discussing it again. Tell me, if nobody wants Soan Papdi, who is buying all those boxes?”
“That is precisely the mystery. Everyone claims to hate receiving it, nobody admits to buying it, and yet every Diwali, the boxes appear in homes, offices and gift hampers. There is supposedly one box travelling across India, changing hands and occasionally returning to its original owner.” “There is a curious marketing contradiction here, something that could well be called the Soan Papdi Paradox.”
“Good joke,” he said, “but a poor understanding of marketing. You are confusing what people say with what people do. The recipient wants Kaju Katli. The person buying gifts for fifty friends wants something affordable, presentable and easy to distribute. The two may not have the same priorities.”
I looked at him. “Soan Papdi is not a sweet. It is a budget decision?”
“Now you are getting somewhere. Marketing begins by understanding the buying situation, not by taking social-media comments at face value. Soan Papdi is familiar, widely available, reasonably priced and associated with festivals. It does the job when the gifting list is long, and the budget is limited. The buyer may not love the product, but the product solves a problem.”
He paused before adding, “And remember, the buyer, the recipient and the person who eventually eats the sweet may all be different people. Why should their preferences be identical?” “The Soan Papdi Paradox begins with this simple distinction: the person who pays for a product and the person who consumes it may value entirely different things.”
I had to concede the point. “But what about the jokes? The memes, the public ridicule, the annual declarations that nobody wants another box? Surely that must hurt the product.”
“Not necessarily,” Vermajee replied. “A brand manager would be delighted to have that level of awareness, but should be careful about mistaking notoriety for brand equity. Soan Papdi has become a cultural reference point. Its name immediately evokes Diwali gifting, whether the conversation is affectionate or mocking. The jokes keep it visible, while price and convenience keep it commercially relevant.” “The Soan Papdi Paradox is a reminder that public ridicule and commercial rejection are not necessarily the same thing.”
“So the brand is benefiting from bad publicity?”
“Don’t jump to conclusions. Bad publicity is not automatically good publicity. If people stop buying the product, the jokes will not save it. But when the criticism does not change the buying decision, the brand may continue to sell despite its poor reputation.”
He took a sip of whisky and continued. “And that does not mean it has retained its desirability. Commercial survival and emotional appeal are two different measures of success. A product can remain commercially successful while losing the affection of its consumers.” “That is the real Soan Papdi Paradox: a product can continue to sell without necessarily being loved.”
I recognised the distinction. “So the lesson is not to celebrate the memes, but to understand whether they are changing buying behaviour.”
“Exactly. And don’t mistake distribution for desire. A product can be available everywhere and still be nobody’s first choice. Strong sales may reflect genuine preference, but they may also reflect habit, limited alternatives or the convenience of buying in bulk. The numbers tell you what happened; understanding the buyer tells you why.”
“And what should brand managers do with that understanding?”
“First, identify the job your brand is doing for the buyer. Is it delivering pleasure, saving money, reducing effort, meeting an obligation, or simply being the easiest option? If you don’t know, you may spend a fortune advertising benefits that have little bearing on the actual purchase.” “The Soan Papdi Paradox offers a useful lesson for marketers: understand the buying behaviour before believing the buying commentary.”
He leaned back. “Second, understand how sustainable those reasons are. If people buy your product because they genuinely prefer it, you have one kind of business. If they buy it because it is convenient, familiar or difficult to replace, you have another. The second can be profitable, but it leaves you vulnerable when the circumstances change, or a competitor offers a better solution.”
I raised my glass. “Imagine a brand manager presenting a campaign report with a slide that says, ‘Nobody likes us, but everybody buys us.’”
“Possibly the most honest presentation in the industry,” he said. “Provided the sales figures support it.”
We laughed. Soan Papdi had become a useful reminder that purchasing decisions are rarely as simple as public opinion suggests. The recipient’s disappointment does not automatically make the buyer’s decision irrational, just as continued sales do not automatically prove that a brand is loved.
Vermajee pointed at the empty glasses. “Remember this, Sanjeev. A brand does not survive merely because people talk about it. It survives when it keeps serving a need. Soan Papdi’s real strength may not be that people love it, but that, for a particular gifting occasion, they find it difficult to replace.”
I looked at the box. “And what do you think happens to all those boxes after Diwali?”
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Vermajee smiled. “That, my friend, is a different question. Let someone else figure it out.”
“With Diwali approaching, somewhere in the country, someone was probably buying another box of Soan Papdi, while hoping nobody would gift him one.”
And somewhere else, someone was already planning the meme.
BLOG/076/2026/1238/682 To connect, Twitter S_kotnala or LinkedIn: @sanjeevkotnala
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