Carl Pei Changes his X Handle to 'Carl Bhai'; Find Other Bhais of the 'Bhai' campaign

Before the scheduled release of the Nothing Phone 2a on March 5, Carl Pei, the CEO of Nothing, engaged in lighthearted interactions with the company's Indian audience, initiating what is now termed the 'Bhai' campaign. Originating from a humorous exchange with a user identified as 'X', Pei began responding to various posts with the term 'Bhai', a Hindi word meaning 'brother'.

In response to inquiries about potential collaborations with Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh, Pei jestingly replied, "We want to sell more phones bhai", amusing Indian followers on the microblogging platform. Consequently, he embraced the moniker 'Carl Bhai', prompting the official Nothing India account to follow suit by adopting the handle 'Nothing India Bhai', while also posting, "Carl Bhai ke aage koi bol sakta hai kya, ayyy Carl Bhai".

The playful exchanges extended beyond Pei and encompassed Nothing's co-founder Akis Evangelidis, who also adopted the moniker' Akis Bhai'. Moreover, Pei involved Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas, leading to Srinivas briefly changing his handle to reflect the banter. The latter responded to Pei's initial post with, "Carl Bhai, kab hamara partnership?" Pei replied, "Only if you changed your name to Aravind Bhai", to which Srinivas replied, "Partnership official now!" alongside changing his X handle for a brief moment.

The lighthearted discourse garnered attention from Indian users, some even expressing interest in integrating Perplexity's technology into Nothing devices. Additionally, P'i playfully challenged Elon Musk to join in by changing his handle to 'Elon Bhai'. Pei wrote, ".@elonmusk did you really think you could build a Tesla factory in India without changing your username to Elon Bhai?"

Although primarily playful, this banter is an effective marketing strategy, generating anticipation for the upcoming launch of the Nothing Phone 2a. India, already a promising market for Nothing, further solidifies its importance with establishing a manufacturing facility in Chennai, where the flagship product, Nothing Phone 2, is produced.