Carl Pei, CEO of Nothing, has gained attention on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) after changing his username to 'Carl Bhai' following a light-hearted exchange with an Indian user..
The X user, Raman, commented on Nothing India's social media profile about them hiring Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh as the brand ambassador for their campaign. "Why is a brand ambassador needed?" he said.
This caught the attention of Pei, who said, "We want to sell more phones bhai,” using the Hindi term for brother, 'bhai.'
Pei's usage of the term 'bhai' resonated with Indian users, leading him to suggest Tesla CEO Elon Musk change his username to 'Elon Bhai' amid speculations of a Tesla factory in India.
“@elonmusk did you really think you could build a Tesla factory in India without changing your username to Elon Bhai?,” he wrote.
Pei's friendly comment attracted a number of humorous replies from online users. Suggestions flooded in, ranging from "Elon Bhau" to "Elon Gaaru," all of them made to fit with the unique identities and regional languages of several states.
Pei took the cheerful banter a step further by renaming himself "Carl Bhai" on social media. Upon being addressed as "Carl Bhai" by an online user, he replied, "I changed my name on X."
In reaction to Pei's tweet, even the official ‘Nothing India’ handle changed its name to "Nothing India Bhai". Akis Evangelidis, the co-founder of Nothing, chose the same moniker, "Akis Bhai."
Since the playful conversation, Nothing and Pei have actively engaged with users on social media platform X. Their official handle has been sharing memes related to the trend, encouraging users to add 'Bhai' to their usernames.
The business offered incentives to anyone who added 'Bhai' to their usernames, saying that ten lucky winners would receive the upcoming Phone 2.
Nothing Phone 2a — the company's third smartphone — is set to launch next month. The phone is expected to be released as a less expensive version of the Nothing Phone 2, which made its debut the previous year.
Meanwhile, a post on the company's India-specific X account confirmed that the handset will also be launched in India on the same date. A dynamic event page on Nothing's website also reveals that the smartphone will be available for purchase via Flipkart.
