e-commerce
Giant water gun truck rolls through Gurgaon for Holi
Instamart’s oversized blaster stunt sparks viral buzz ahead of festival; premium guns see rising demand.
MUMBAI: Gurgaon just got Holi’d early because when a truck carries a water gun the size of a small car, the only thing getting soaked is everyone’s attention. A massive, larger-than-life water blaster mounted on an Instamart truck turned heads and triggered phone cameras across parts of Gurgaon this week. The eye-catching installation, part of the quick-commerce platform’s festive build-up to Holi, mirrors the premium water guns available on its app and quickly went viral on Instagram and X, racking up millions of views in under 24 hours.
Commuters slowed to gawk, children pointed excitedly from pavements, and social media lit up with reactions. One user posted, “Gurgaon seriously isn’t for beginners. I spotted an Instamart truck carrying a massive water gun. It was like a pichkari that decided to go 10x for Holi.” Another wrote: “Every festival now comes with its own ‘Did you see this?’ moment. Today’s one for me was a giant water gun on a truck.”
The stunt taps into a noticeable shift in Holi shopping habits. What used to be a last-minute grab for basic plastic squirters has evolved into planned purchases of high-performance blasters and premium festive items. Instamart reports strong demand this season for brands like Spyra water blasters, NERF Super Soakers, Police Gatlin Single-Barrel Water Guns, and Toyshine Electric Water Guns, alongside edible gulaal, natural colours, UV colours, phool gulal, organic options, body paints, aftercare products, sweets, flowers, and curated colour hampers.
Last Holi, the platform saw a 5x spike in flower sales year-on-year and rising interest in premium assortments. This year’s festive range positions Instamart as a one-stop destination for experiential Holi prep, with the giant blaster stunt serving as a rolling reminder that the festival of colours is going bigger, bolder and starting earlier.
In a city where traffic already feels chaotic, one oversized water gun turned the daily commute into the opening act of Holi. Consider the streets officially splashed.
e-commerce
Instamart and Duolingo launch street spell check campaign for Instaprint
Duo the owl fixes signboard typos across cities to showcase instant printing.
MUMBAI: If spelling mistakes had a sworn enemy, it might just be a bright green owl with a printer. Instamart has teamed up with language learning platform Duolingo for a quirky nationwide campaign that turns everyday spelling errors into a public spectacle while promoting its instant printing service, InstaPrint. The playful activation takes aim at the many misspelled shop boards and public signs scattered across Indian streets. From “saloons” that promise haircuts rather than drinks to menus and posters peppered with punctuation mishaps, the campaign sends Duolingo’s mascot Duo on a mission to restore linguistic order.
Armed with Instamart’s instant printing feature, Duo prints corrected versions of the mistakes on the spot and pastes them over the originals. The result is a series of humorous street interventions that have quickly begun circulating on social media.
Photos and videos of the grammar correcting owl have been widely shared online, with amused users reacting to the unexpected spell check patrol. One user joked, “Ab ayega na maza bhidu,” capturing the internet’s delight at the unusual campaign.
Behind the humour lies a practical message. The activation is designed to showcase the capabilities of Instaprint, Instamart’s printing service that allows users to print documents and posters almost instantly.
The company says the feature is meant for everyday needs such as printing resumes, visa documents or last minute posters without the usual scramble to locate a print shop.
Instamart introduced Instaprint in 2025 across select metropolitan cities including Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi. The service allows users to order printed materials directly through the platform, extending the quick commerce model beyond groceries and household essentials.
By combining Duolingo’s famously persistent owl with India’s street level spelling quirks, the campaign taps into the internet’s long running fascination with grammar mistakes while demonstrating a real world use case for instant printing.
After all, in a world full of typos, sometimes what you really need is a quick printer and a very determined language teacher.
