Brands
The Belgian Waffle Co drills down on National Waffle Day
MUMBAI: The Belgian Waffle Co turned up the heat this National Waffle Day with a record-breaking 7 lakh footfalls across 660+ outlets in 220 cities on 16 July, flipping a midweek lull into a full-blown dessert riot.
Led by the cheeky and energetic #WhatsYourDrill campaign, the brand teased fans with a faux cancellation of National Waffle Day—only to unveil a surprise date shift to the third Wednesday of July. Cue chaos, curiosity, and meme mayhem.
The buzz peaked as “Waffle Lieutenants” (read: die-hard fans) received retro-style mission letters and classified 3D-glasses-included invites, decoding the secret celebration date. Influencer-led content exploded on Instagram, led by viral creator ShettyBrother whose “waffle drill” clip clocked 6 million organic views.
With waffles priced at Rs100 for the day, the brand saw queues snaking out of stores, powered by a slick tech solution allowing pre-orders to manage the sugar rush. OOH ads across 77+ locations in metros and Tier-2 cities added to the visibility blitz, while store-level games like “Waffle Mania” kept fans entertained.
Even employees got in on the action, posting “Cadet Profiles” and their own waffle rituals on LinkedIn, proving that behind every great drill, there’s an even crunchier team.
“National Waffle Day is always a landmark moment for The Belgian Waffle Co. This year, as we celebrate 10 incredible years of the brand, it held even greater significance for us. The massive response across our 660+ stores country-wide reflected not just the growing love for our waffles, but also the enthusiasm with which our customers embraced the idea of celebrating rituals and indulgence in a way that felt uniquely personal. It’s a celebration of our loyal community, our partners, and the culture we’ve built together. This massive success year-after-year is humbling and encourages us to remain committed to product quality, consistency and customer delight,” said The Belgian Waffle Co Executive Director and CEO, Ankit Patel.
“This year, we repositioned the National Waffle Day to the third Wednesday of July, shifting away from a fixed day which our consumers were quite aware about. The overwhelming response to that shift is a testament to the strong emotional connect the brand shares with our community. With the #WhatsYourDrill campaign, we wanted to give our community a platform to express themselves in fun, meaningful ways, to build a movement around rituals and shared joy. From user-generated content to on-ground engagement, the enthusiasm we witnessed reaffirmed our belief in creating experiences that go beyond the product and connect emotionally with our audience,” shared marketing head Vrushali Parab.
Crunch met creativity, and National Waffle Day 2025 signed off with syrupy smiles and a sugar high that hit just right.
Brands
Uber launches hotel bookings feature in partnership with Expedia
From hotel bookings to room service at your door, the ride-hailing giant is making its boldest push yet into everyday life
CALIFORNIA: Uber is done being just a taxi app. At its annual GO-GET product event, the world’s leading mobility and delivery platform unveiled a sweeping set of new features designed to plant itself at the centre of how people travel, eat and shop, hotel bookings included.
The headline move is a partnership with Expedia Group that lets Uber users in the United States book hotels directly within the Uber app, with access to a catalogue that will eventually grow to more than 700,000 properties worldwide. Uber One members get 10 per cent back in Uber One credits on all hotel bookings and savings of at least 20 per cent on a rolling list of more than 10,000 hotels globally. Vacation rentals from Vrbo, Expedia Group’s home-rental brand, will be added later this year. The partnership is expected to expand beyond the United States. From June, Uber rides will also be integrated directly into the Expedia app, with push notifications sent to travellers ahead of hotel check-in to book discounted Uber rides for the duration of their stay.
Dara Khosrowshahi, chief executive of Uber, framed the expansion in terms of the modern condition. “Uber is becoming an app for everything, helping people go, get, and now travel all in one place,” he said. “We’re all living through a moment of real cognitive overload: too many apps, too many decisions, too much noise. At the end of the day, our job is to help people reclaim their time, spending less of it managing the logistics of life and more of it actually living.”
Ariane Gorin, chief executive of Expedia Group, struck a similarly ambitious note. “Travel should feel effortless, and this partnership gets us one step closer to offering a seamless traveller experience,” she said. “By connecting our two-sided marketplace with Uber, we’re bringing Uber rides directly into the Expedia app and Expedia Group’s lodging inventory into the Uber app through our Rapid API technology. Together, we’re helping travellers spend less time planning and more time enjoying the journey.”
Beyond hotels, the product announcements come thick and fast. Travel Mode, available within both the Uber and Uber Eats apps, offers curated recommendations on local favourites, tourist destinations, OpenTable restaurant reservations and on-demand delivery to hotel rooms. Uber One International means the membership programme now works globally, allowing members to earn credits on rides abroad that can be redeemed once back home. A new Shop for Me feature lets users request items from any store, even those not listed on the app. Eats for the Way allows riders in select cities booking an Uber Black or Uber Black SUV to have a drink or snack waiting for them in the car. Voice Bookings, powered by artificial intelligence, lets users book a ride conversationally, without touching their phone. And a redesigned One Search bar consolidates results for places, food and items across the entire Uber platform in a single query.
Uber has now logged more than 72 billion trips since it launched in 2010. The question it is now answering is what comes after the ride. The answer, apparently, is everything else. Whether users want a hotel in Paris, a coffee in the back of a car or a snake plant from the local garden centre, Uber would very much like to be the one to provide it. The app economy’s land grab has a new front-runner.
NOTE: The image used is AI generated and only for representational purposes.
