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Journalism of Courage
After a cake delivery for his birthday was disrupted due to heavy rainfall, YouTuber Gaurav Taneja, aka Flying Beast, recently shared an unexpected gesture from Zomato. On X, Taneja wrote, “My birthday cake got cancelled by @zomato yesterday (heavy rains). So today they sent this,” posting photos of a thoughtful gift hamper, colourful balloons, and a handwritten note from the brand.
Zomato’s note stood out not just for the apology, but for how personal it felt – almost like a message from an old friend. “You’ve always shown us so much love. So today, on your special day (and ours too), we wanted to send some back in your style,” the note read.
What really caught attention was the way Zomato acknowledged Taneja’s family – referencing his recent gesture of buying a home for his parents. The brand added that the hamper included small surprises for “Mumma, Papa, Dadu and Dadi,” and also sent love to his wife Ritu and daughter Rasbhari.
Zomato claimed it was their birthday too, and included a flask as a “return gift,” closing the note with: “Flask toh return gift hai, next time cheesecake bhi time pe hoga. Pakka. Pinky promise.” (Flask is a return gift. Next time, we will send cheesecake on time.)
While the gesture was clearly tailored to Taneja, it didn’t sit well with many online. The post, which quickly went viral, drew sharp comments pointing out the disparity between how regular users are treated versus influencers.
“General public would have gotten Rs 75 coupon on an order of Rs 1500 (non-refundable),” one user wrote. Another X user said, “Celebrity hone k fayde.” (Benefits of being a celebrity).
Others echoed the sentiment, calling it classic “influencer privilege” – noting that a similar incident involving a non-famous customer would likely not have drawn even a text apology, let alone a customised hamper.
Gaurav Taneja, a former commercial pilot, now runs multiple YouTube channels including Flying Beast, FitMuscle TV, and Rasbhari Ke Papa. Together with his wife Ritu Rathee, who is also a pilot and influencer, he’s become a household name in Indian digital media, amassing millions of subscribers and followers.
