Can you imagine that idli, soft, earthy and the star of the humblest breakfast plate, is a nervous cripple? He is miserable. Sambar, who was once his perfect companion, is about to leave him to marry Vada. Idli left on the edge of the plate can’t help but make you wonder. Since when is simple no longer good enough?
Social media platforms are awash with such soap operas, as artificial intelligence (AI) content creators turn everyday foods into original fictional characters, giving them human-like personalities, emotions, and relationships, and weaving dramatic, over-the-top stories around them.
Such AI content has emerged as a clever workaround to avoid copyright and legal risks associated with known persons. Also, no real-world feelings are hurt when Puri elopes with Nan against her father’s wishes. These quirky stories have racked up up to 20 million views, keeping creators out of trouble while captivating viewers, unlike recent AI videos featuring historical figures like Mahatma Gandhi and Jalaluddin Akbar, living celebrities, and even Marvel’s Hulk, which sparked a copyright backlash.
Lawyers agree that common AI food videos can help creators avoid legal trouble.
“From a legal perspective, AI-generated food videos occupy a less responsible corner of a rapidly shrinking ecosystem. Today, the real legal catch is the unauthorized use of human likenesses or protected characters. NG Law Chamber founding partner Nakul Gandhi said, “General food images trigger neither.”
These food-based videos have no identifiable rights holders, no moral rights claims, and no obvious infringement hooks, making them a benign category for creators. “However, this regulatory reassurance is conditional as India tightens its approach to synthetic media through new IT rules. The focus will widen from what is depicted to how it is disclosed, potentially bringing even innocuous AI content into the scope of compliance,” Gandhi warned.
Creators partner with brands to create INR10,000 for short-form videos (30-180 seconds). These videos are generated on AI platforms such as Google’s Nano Banana, Flow, Veo3, and Kling AI, using up to $2000 worth of AI credits. INR500. AI Credits are virtual tokens or units that the Platform deducts for the use of AI capabilities. This increases your earning potential per video by 20x your investment. Whimsical animated forms of storytelling are engaging and 30% cheaper, so brands are increasingly preferring them over influencer marketing.
Let’s take the animation Gyan as an example. This is an Instagram page run by a Dehradun-based engineer who has been uploading food microdramas every day since January 2025. The engineer, who requested anonymity, said he spends five hours a day after his regular job creating 60-second videos, but that viewers want more. “They’re hooked on it like it’s a soap they use every day,” he says. A page with 100,000 followers receives up to 18.2 million views.
However, he cautions that this is a passing trend that will likely fade as the AI community moves on to the next form of social media. He closely monitors his account metrics to stay ahead of the curve.
Marketing industry watchers note that this trend is sparking a wave of content as creators respond to these quirky videos and imitate the characters. “Food is a topic that so many people can relate to, and the artwork of the characters in the AI videos is fun and quirky, just like the superhero AI videos of a generation ago,” said Piyush Agarwal, co-founder of Mumbai-based social media agency Create.
However, they reiterate that this is likely to be a short-term phenomenon. “Stimulating influencer reaction videos and promoting more relatable content. We’ve already seen creators jump on it, but it will soon feel outdated. As with all AI fads, this trend will soon die out and creators will be forced to pivot to fresh ideas,” Agarwal said.
Ishan Sharma, an AI creator with 1.2 million followers, first noticed a surge in these videos in December. “By February, 60% of the videos in my feed were these food AI microdramas and AI videos about inanimate objects, thanks to the launch of motion control in AI platforms like Kling AI and Veo3, allowing users to use AI to transfer motion and move arbitrary images and characters,” Sharma said. He explains how to create such videos on various AI platforms and has received 2.6 million views on Instagram.
Brands like Google and Zingbus have jumped on board with this trend and experimented with AI video for social media marketing. Google has created interview-style videos featuring different vegetables to encourage users to play around with its AI tools and create similar videos. Questions sent to Google went unanswered.
Intercity bus platform Zingbus collaborated with AI creators to promote its app with six videos featuring quirky characters generated for trend-based marketing. When contacted by email, the company did not respond.
Create’s Agarwal emphasized that this trend has marketing potential if brands can better integrate their unique stories with AI. “There is clear potential for marketing, but brands need to create fun content and weave it into their narratives. Quick commerce players stand to benefit greatly as a natural evolution of meme marketing,” he said.
