e-commerce
Baazee.com & eBay Co. donate Rs 12.5 million to PM relief fund
MUMBAI: Baazee.com- an eBay company, eBay and the eBay Foundation has announced a joint contribution to the prime minister’s national relief fund of approximately Rs 12.5 million towards the Tsunami Relief Operations in India.
According to a company release, the funds, which represent a month’s fees of Baazee.com plus contributions from its parent company eBay and the eBay Foundation, were generated in response to the magnitude of the disaster.
Baazee.com company spokesperson Deepa Thomas stated, “All of us have been deeply saddened by this tragedy and our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. In addition to our donation, we are also offering our online marketplace as a place where Indians can make their own contributions towards the relief and rehabilitation of people affected by this disaster.”
Additionally, Baazee is also going to support the CRY Tsunami Relief Fund by involving its more than 1 million strong community of users in a fund raising drive from 6 January to 20 January.
The fund raising drive will involve CRY Child Art Wallpaper being sold on the site against fixed donation slabs from Rs 100 to Rs 5,000.
The amount generated will go to the relief efforts, and donors will be acknowledged in the specially created CRY – Baazee Valued Contributors page.
Baazee will make a matching contribution to CRY equaling the money donated by its users through this effort. The special fund raising drive will run unto 20 January and the total amount raised will be contributed to the prime minister’s Relief Fund and the CRY Tsunami Relief Fund immediately thereafter.
Baazee is also offering its platform to leading Bollywood producers to come forward and auction movie costumes and merchandise to raise money for the CRY Tsunami Relief Fund. Vashu Bhagnani has already agreed to donate 10 costumes for the cause and more producers are expected to join in shortly.
The media release also informs that in addition, both Baazee and eBay are offering links to major humanitarian organizations and charities for those visitors who wish to give directly the charities themselves. eBay has set up a special page for this purpose at www.ebay.com/tsunamirelief.
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.
