‘Avurudu’, is the traditional New Year in Sri Lanka, celebrated on April 14th with week-long rituals and celebrations. During the New Year, traditional drums known as ‘raban’ have been played every year for centuries. These drum beats are accompanied by traditional ‘raban’ songs, sung to the beat of the ‘raban’, which are popular among the youth. The purpose of beating the ‘raban’ and singing of ‘raban’ songs are to announce the arrival of the New Year with hope that the joy felt will continue throughout the year. This traditional communal activity revolves around groups of people coming together to herald the New Year. However, in March 2020, Sri Lanka went into lockdown similar to many other countries in the world due to the Covid-19 pandemic. During lockdown the traditional ‘raban’ songs could not be played as public gatherings were banned which in turn threatened this cultural tradition spanning over centuries.  

Prima KottuMee is the most loved instant noodle brand in Sri Lanka favored by the youth. The brand at its core stands for fun, fashion and music, which caters directly to the youth lifestyle. During the time of avurudhu (due to lockdown), social gatherings were banned islandwide resulting in the low morale of the youth. To rejuvenate and restore the tradition of ‘raban’ amongst the youth, Prima KottuMee needed to find an innovative platform. In Sri Lanka, Tik Tok has gained high popularity among the Sri Lankan youth as a social platform with an estimated audience of over 2.4 Million. This made Tik Tok the ideal platform for the brand’s strategy. By using Tik Tok as the platform the brand was able to reinstate the tradition, and bring back that yearly joy, and the hope felt during the New Year, even during the Covid pandemic.

Prima KottuMee took traditional and well-known ‘raban’ songs, compiled and recorded them into a track to create Sri Lanka’s first ‘raban’ mashup, the ‘Prima KottmuMee Raban Mashup’, which was a merge of tradition and new age media. Next Prima KottuMee called upon its Brand Ambassador Yohani, an upcoming, popular, contemporary young Sri Lankan singer; she was given the track and lyrics to perform the song. A notable fact was that this entire production was coordinated remotely and virtually due to the pandemic. This video was then released on Tik Tok and other social media platforms.  The ‘Prima KottuMee Raban Mashup’ became an instant hit among the local Tik Tok audience; due to the brand reinstating the aspect of joy and the feeling of hope felt every New Year to the youth through a brand-new experience whilst sustaining this yearly tradition.