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Candyman gets smart with sass as Soury Not Sorry returns with an AI twist

ITC’s Candyman Sourzzz debuts AI influencer Rysa in a bolder Season 3 outing.

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Candyman

MUMBAI: Sometimes, the sharpest clapbacks don’t come from people at all. ITC’s Candyman Sourzzz is back with Soury Not Sorry – Season 3, and this time it has added a distinctly futuristic edge by introducing an AI influencer as the face of its disruptive youth franchise.

After two high-impact seasons, the confectionery brand has doubled down on attitude and innovation, rolling out a four-week digital campaign led by Ramya Sathish, better known as Rysa, a category-first AI influencer in the Indian confectionery space. The move signals a clear shift towards internet-native storytelling aimed squarely at teenagers and young adults who live, speak and spar online.

Season 3 stays loyal to the franchise’s core idea: bold, clean “soury” roasts delivered to misplaced authority figures who poke without provocation. Only now, the sass comes from a digitally created voice designed to mirror the confidence, humour and unfiltered honesty of today’s youth.

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Rysa has been carefully crafted as a culturally fluid persona. A 23-year-old Delhi-born graduate with Malayali roots, she is positioned as a self-aware “corporate baddie” witty, chaotically honest and driven by experience-led comedy that thrives on internet humour. The intent is clear: make the brand feel less like it is talking to young consumers and more like it is talking with them.

“Soury Not Sorry has grown into a powerful youth-culture platform for Candyman Sourzzz,” said ITC Foods vice president and business head for confectionery Subash Balar. “Season 3 is our boldest leap yet. With Rysa, our first-ever AI influencer, we’re stepping into the future of culturally relevant storytelling while staying true to what the Intellectual Property stands for wit, confidence and unapologetic self-expression.”

The insight driving the franchise remains unchanged. Young people are often nudged to tone themselves down, sugarcoat opinions or conform to avoid judgement. Yet, what they crave is the freedom to be quirky, outspoken and real. By turning everyday irritants into moments of fearless humour, Soury Not Sorry positions Candyman Sourzzz as the candy of choice for those who refuse to hold back.

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That approach has already paid off. Season 1 clocked a reach of 35 million with 1.7 million engagements, while Season 2 scaled higher with 36 million reach and 2.7 million engagements. Over time, the series has evolved into a genre-defining digital youth property, flipping moments of judgement into celebrations of unapologetic individuality.

With Season 3, Candyman Sourzzz pushes the envelope further blending clean roasts, cultural insight and now an AI-powered voice. The message is unmistakable: the future of youth culture is bold, sharp and just a little bit sour and proudly not sorry.

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Brands

Dunkin’ Donuts to exit India as Jubilant FoodWorks ends 15-year franchise deal

The quick service restaurant giant is ending a 15-year franchise partnership with the American doughnut chain, even as it renews its Domino’s agreement for another 15 years

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NOIDA: Dunkin’ is done in India. Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd, the country’s leading quick service restaurant operator, has decided not to renew its franchise agreement with the American coffee and doughnut chain, and will wind down its Indian stores in a phased manner before December 31, 2026, bringing a 15-year partnership to a quiet, loss-laden close.

The decision, approved by JFL’s board on March 30, 2026, ends a relationship that began with a Multiple Unit Development Franchise Agreement signed on February 24, 2011. JFL will now evaluate and undertake what it described in a regulatory filing as the “rationalisation and/or cessation of certain operations and/or sale, transfer or disposal of assets and/or assignment or transfer of franchise rights,” all in consultation with Dunkin’s brand owners and strictly within the terms of the original agreement.

The numbers tell the story bluntly. In the financial year 2024-25, Dunkin’ India posted a revenue of Rs 37 crore against a loss of Rs 19 crore — a haemorrhage that was always going to test the patience of a parent company recording revenues of Rs 6,104 crore and a profit of Rs 194 crore in the same period. Doughnuts, it turns out, were never going to move the needle.

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The contrast with JFL’s handling of its other marquee franchise could hardly be sharper. Even as it walks away from Dunkin’, the company has just doubled down on Domino’s, signing a fresh Master Franchise Agreement on March 31, 2026, granting it exclusive rights to develop and operate Domino’s Pizza stores in India for 15 years, with an option to renew for a further 10.

JFL, incorporated in 1995 and promoted by the Bharatia family, operates a network of more than 3,500 stores across six markets — India, Turkey, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Its portfolio includes Domino’s and Popeyes on the global side, and two home-grown brands: Hong’s Kitchen and COFFY, a café brand in Turkey.

For Dunkin’, India was always a stretch. The brand never quite cracked the cultural code in a market where filter coffee and chai command fierce loyalty and where the doughnut remains, at best, an occasional indulgence rather than a daily habit. Fifteen years, mounting losses and a parent with better things to spend its capital on was always going to be a difficult equation to solve.

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The doughnut has had its last day. The pizza, however, is staying.

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