Starcom's February 2024 trend report: A glimpse into dynamic cultural currents

Delhi: Starcom has unveiled the Trend Report for January 2024. This report offers a deep dive into various realms, from sports and entertainment to the world of reels and beyond, capturing the essence of modern culture. The Culture report is powered by BUZ – the tool that helps mapping trends.

The report covers trends across 4 major platforms –

1. Google and X (formerly called Twitter)

1.1.Cricket

1.2.Movies, Music and Entertainment

1.3.General 

2. Spotify

3. Instagram

3.1. Reels

3.2. Memes

1. Google and X (formerly called Twitter) 

Cricket dominated conversations yet again with both the under-19 and the senior men’s cricket team in the news. While it was the younger cricketers’ performance in the under-19 world cup that drew chatter, the senior team was popular among netizens thanks to their comeback against England in the 5 match test series between the two teams. There were a lot of news pieces across the board that got a lot of attention, specifically topics like cervical cancer, JEE entrance results, and actor Suhani Bhatnagar whose untimely death shocked many. February was also the month of romance with Valentine’s Day on the 14th. Netizens did not shy away from displaying their different expressions of love and the chatter around the day of love, and other days like Rose Day and Chocolate Day were high. It was a slow month for entertainment though with not many major movie releases and runaway hits at the box office. Laal Salaam did create some excitement among the netizens, but it was personalities like Deepika Padukone (BAFTA appearance and pregnancy speculation) and actor Vijay who were hot topics for conversation 

The second test match between visitors England and hosts India was heavily discussed as the home team made a comeback to grab victory from the visitors. Youngster Yashaswi Jaiswal continued his form from the first test match, in addition to others in the team like debutant Sarfaraz Khan, spin-master Ravichandran Ashwin, captain Rohit Sharma, and Ravindra Jadeja, all pitching in to help the team win not only the 2nd test, but also the consequent 2 matches played in the month. The under-19 world cup finals drew a lot of conversation especially since it seemed like history repeating itself from the men’s 50 over world cup in 2023 as India lost to Australia in the final. 

While one would expect Valentine’s Day and the various other ‘days’ to be the most popular occasion to discuss, 2024 is a leap year, which meant discussions around the Leap Day – February 29 were on top. From people making jokes to sharing memes it was a widely discussed occasion. Among the Indian festivals it was the occasion of Basant Panchami which got people talking, but was a distant fourth as compared to the other three. 

The deaths of ghazal maestro Pankaj Udhas and film, television and theatre actor Rituraj Singh resulted in an outpouring of shock and condolences. Rajnikanth’s Laal Salaam was a hot topic, specifically its review while Deepika Padukone’s appearance at the BAFTAs and the speculation around her pregnancy made her almost as discussed as actor Vijay who announced his entry into politics.

Poonam Pandey’s death hoax did manage to get people talking about cervical cancer as it was the most discussed topic in the month. However, the next big thing in the general category was the joint entrance exam result followed by PM Kisan. Young actor Suhani Bhatnagar’s death following complications from a leg injury was also discussed to a great extent.

For our major platforms- Google and Twitter, the trends could be divided into 3 major buckets:

 Cricket

Top trigrams for all three matches

Top trigrams for 2^nd match

The India-England test series, which resulted in a thumping victory for the home team, was heavily discussed not only for the twists and turns the matches saw, but also for some milestones achieved by players. Most notably, the third test match marked spinner Ravichandran Ashwin’s 500^th test wicket, becoming the ninth bowler to do so in the traditional format, joining the likes of the Late Shane Warne, Anil Kumble, and Sri Lankan great Muttiah Muralitharan. The chatter however also included players like Sarfaraz Khan who made his test debut, Rohit Sharma, Ravinder Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav for their performance in the matches played during the month. In fact, the second test match, which India won, tying the series thus far also resulted in excitement for a balanced series scorecard for the two teams. However, India went on to win all the remaining matches in the series, taking a comprehensive 4-1 victory over the visiting opponents.

The most used words regarding the India-England test series were the top performers for India including newcomers like Dhruv Jurel and Sarfaraz Khan, and players like Ashwin who reached a significant milestone in his career. Other words that found repeated use were wishes conveying praise and adulation for the team like ‘congratulations’, ‘best’, ‘skill’, ‘proud’, ‘stunning’ and ‘spinner’.

Movies, Music, and Entertainment: Blockbusters and bombs

While all was pretty much quiet on the Bollywood front, there was a much anticipated release in Tamil Nadu – Laal Salaam. Directed by Aishwariya Rajnikanth, the film tells the tale of two aspiring and talented cricketers who are cut from the team unfairly. The movie, which released on February 9^th also featured an extended cameo by Tamil superstar Rajnikanth with Vishnu Vishal and Vikranth in lead roles. Despite much fanfare and anticipation, the movie opened to mixed reviews, and underperformed at the box office which led to a lot of chatter around it.

The top word clusters by mentions of the movie include the director Aishwarya Rajnikanth, the words performance and social, and superstar Rajinkanth. Most people mentioned the cast and director while talking about the movie, while some also spoke about the individual performance given by the actors in the film. While it was not the resounding hit one expects a film feature Rajnikanth, mentions around the film focussed on the performances and praise around the same, rather than the movie’s fate at the box office.

1.3 Others: Of romance, finance, and more…

After the hullabaloo around the Ram Mandir ceremony in January, February was all about romance with Valentine’s Day accompanied by various ‘days’, much celebrated by the youth and not-so-young alike. Apart from the D-day, or rather V-day, it was occasions like Chocolate Day, Rose Day and Hug Day that got people talking. It was not all mushy romance either as many people used the occasion to talk about self-love and self-care, being kind to oneself and each other, and generally spreading good vibes around.

People also mentioned gifting and gifts significantly in relation to the occasion. This was not only in the form of gift ideas for that someone special, but also jokes on how people are left scrambling for Valentine’s day gift ideas when they delay buying one for too long. People also spoke about handmade gifts and gifts around the theme of ‘heart’ at length.

Another topic that saw a spurt in discourse was the budget as FM Nirmala Sitharaman presented the interim budget for the year at the start of the month. Words like ‘election’, ‘finance’, ‘India’, ‘essential’ and ‘expenditure’ were popular when netizens discussed the provisions in the annual budget. Of course, the FM herself was extensively mentioned, as was the term ‘interim’ since the budget presented was in an election year.

Speaking of elections, chatter has been growing as we head into the General Assembly Elections in the coming weeks. While the dates have yet to be announced, it has not stopped people from discussing the same. Significant political movements across states of India have also lent to election related chatter online. 

India’s north-western neighbour Pakistan’s February election was also a topic of discussion as was the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny who had been imprisoned in 2021.

Towards the end of the month, all eyes were on the north western city of Jamnagar for the pre-wedding festivities of Indian business tycoon Mukesh Ambani’s son Anant Ambani’s upcoming nuptials with Radhika Merchant. The who’s who of the entertainment and business world from India and overseas world were in attendance.

 2.Spotify

 The soundtrack from the Ranbir Kapoor starrer Animal continued its hold on listeners with 5 of the top 10 played songs on Spotify coming from the film’s album. "Pehle Bhi Main” retained the top spot with the highest number of plays followed. Husn took second spot  while Dunki’s “O Mahi” retained its place in the top ten list. Other songs in the top ten included One Love, Chaleya, Ankhiya Gulaab and Heeriye.

Local hits were heard in cities of Punjab (Chandigarh and Ludhiana) and Delhi, though the popular songs in the two markets differed greatly. In cities like Mumbai. Chennai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru, top local hits constituted a mix of film, and non-film music. Songs from the Telugu version of Animal were popular in Hyderabad, as were those from Salaar, in addition to songs from films like Ghost and Kaatera.

 3.Instagram: Reels and Memes Trend

 Close on the heels of Iran’s famous tune ‘Jamal Kudu’, a 1970’s track from Egypt titled “Shik Shak Shok” had its viral moment on Instagram as people made reels by the dozen with the song in the background. While the song’s name has a different meaning in the source language, the words have been interpreted to mean “surprised” or “shocked” given the words similarity to the slang “shook”. Users have made reels depicting different scenarios taking various tones from funny to sarcastic to satirical. The original song is a staple wedding, specifically henna ceremony, song in Egypt and has over the years been remixed to become a popular nightclub and casino number. In Egypt, the song has cultural significance and is seen as an empowering number which promotes body positivity among women.

From song lyrics in a different language interpreted with urban slang, the next trend to have a hold Instgrammers was a game, much along the lines of Simon Says or similar parlour games which are to be played in a group. Called the “Ek Machali, pani mein giri, chapak” game, it involved a group of people repeating the phrase increasing the number of fish at the start of the sentence. For example, the first round of the game will entail participants saying each part of the sentence once (one person says one part, as separated by commas). The next round will start with “Do Machali…” indicating each part of the sentence has to be said twice. The trick is to keep count of how many times the repetition has to be carried out, and by whom which also leads to hilarious goof-ups on camera. Apart from simply playing the game, people have adapted it to water themed jokes, and also for occasions like the haldi ceremony at Indian weddings.

Furry friends are always on trend, and more so on Instagram in February. Users posted various reels featuring their pets or random animal pictures/gifs with a shocked, bored, or amused expression. The theme was simple – using the pictures or gifs of animals with different expressions, the users tried to put across a point in a funny manner. For example, a husband wonders how the household is running short on funds for the month. The wife knows exactly why since she has spent money on her shopping, but gives a shocked expression in response to her husband. Here, the wife’s expression is replaced by a cute animal’s face with a similar expression. In other iterations, the reels have statements juxtaposed with pics of animals. A popular one is where the text talks about a superior or elder talking and the juxtaposed picture of a dog or cat zoning out and looking blank.

The next trend that was popular, especially among Indian foodies, was set to the track lyrics – “Eww Brother….what is that?”. The expression was used to convey mostly dismay at unauthentic food items which are cult favourites in the country. For example, there were a lot of reels which poked fun at various QSR (quick service retail) chains for having sub-quality paper straws that melt into the hot liquid in a matter of minutes. There were others comparing the tea available at these chains to the famous Indian ‘tapir chai’ using this reel. Others still poked fun at the sometimes seemingly gross process (like mixing the batter for bhajiyas by hand) of making popular Indian snacks. Reels with these lyrics also included non-food content like people poking fun at dating habits or choices, or reactions to overpriced or overhyped items in general.

The last trend on the list is the “We are….of course…” trend which originated on Tiktok (banned in India) and soon found its way to Instagram and YT Shorts in India. The premise is simple – the reel starts with “We are (insert group/community/nationality etc)…” and is followed by traits of the said entity. For example, a reel may start with “We are Indians…” and the ensuing content will include traits particular to Indians. Some reels take a funny route listing out the quirks of groups or communities, or even generations, while others take a more sarcastic tone, hitting the hard truths with a layer of at times dark humour. The reel has been adopted to assert ownership over one’s identity with many influencers even collaborating with each other, or incorporating their followers’ suggestions for traits of the group in question. 

About the Starcom Culture Report

As the internet buzzes with a constant flow of information, understanding these nuances is the key to unlocking valuable insights. By delving into what captures their attention across social media platforms and search engines, the report captures the audience’s interests.