How a $0 Sushi Meal Gained 7k+ Instagram Followers in a Few Days

A sushi restaurant in Hong Kong just pulled off what many brands dream of and most never achieve.

They went from zero to 7,610 Instagram followers in less than a week.

No giveaways spam. No “follow to win” mechanics.

Just a very clever idea and one very uncomfortable meal.

Image via ChatGPT

The Instagram account is called Sushirororo, and their growth hack was simple on paper but brilliant in execution. The account only contain 2 Reels made by Jordan Leung, better known as @69ranch, a popular Hong Kong stand-up comedian and content creator with a loyal following and sharp comedic timing.

On 6 January 2026, Sushirororo launched their Instagram page with the first Reel featuring Jordan. The premise was straightforward. Jordan challenged himself to spend HKD$1 for every follower the restaurant had.

Since the account was brand new, that meant zero followers and a total food budget of exactly zero dollars.

Video posted on 6 January had zero followers on their Instagram page

So Jordan sat down for a “meal” consisting entirely of complimentary items. Pickled ginger. Chilli powder. Soy sauce. Plain water. A wet tissue for dessert. Michelin would be rather confused.

When he asked for the bill, the waitress looked equally confused and told him he didn’t need to pay anything since he didn’t order food. Challenge completed. Pride and ego slightly bruised.

The internet loved it.

At the time of writing (7 February 2026), the post had already racked up 75,000 likes and nearly 400 comments. More importantly, people actually followed the account.

On 10 January, Sushirororo posted a second Reel.

This time, the joke escalated. At the start of the video, the account already had 7,610 followers. That meant Jordan now had to spend HKD$7,610 on sushi.

One person. One stomach. Many poor life choices.

Post on 10 January already had 7,610 followers on their Instagram account

To make it even remotely possible, Jordan stayed for both lunch and dinner and brought two friends along. Even then, the group only managed to spend slightly over HKD$4,000.

Still short.

Instead of ending the challenge there, Jordan spent the remaining balance by giving away sushi to followers, neatly closing the loop between content, community, and reward.

That second Reel pulled in another 52,000 likes and over 300 comments at time of writing.

Also at the time of writing, Sushirororo’s Instagram account crossed 17,000+ followers.

5 key takeaways:

1. The idea matters more than the budget
   This worked because the concept was simple, funny, and easy to understand in the first three seconds. No amount of media spend can save a boring idea. Creativity is still undefeated.

2. Influencer fit beats influencer size
   Jordan wasn’t just a billboard. His humor, personality, and audience aligns perfectly. Relevance always outperforms raw follower count.

3. Escalation keeps people coming back
   The second video worked because it raised the stakes. Same idea, higher tension, bigger payoff. Great social content thinks in episodes, not one-offs.

4. The brand stayed in the background on purpose
   Notice how the restaurant never hard-sold the food. The brand let the creator lead, and the audience did the rest. Sometimes the smartest move is not talking too much.

5. Community participation closes the loop
   Giving away sushi to followers wasn’t just generous. It turned passive viewers into participants. When audiences feel involved, growth stops being rented and starts becoming owned.

If this feels obvious in hindsight, that’s the point. The best social ideas usually are. They just look ridiculously hard to copy after someone else nails them first.

Also, respect to anyone who can turn pickled ginger into a growth strategy. Marketing school did not prepare us for that.

Disclaimer: At the time of writing, it wasn't clear if Jordan was collaborating with directly with sushi restaurant Sushiro.hk for the 2 viral videos.

Fan-gating - Yay or Nay?

I'm sure many of you would have come across similar imagery to the one above when you're on Facebook brand pages. This is call fan-gating. The reason why many brands do it is to get more people to Like their brand / page. I'm against the idea that brands need to fan-gate especially if it's a contest by the brand. I feel that people should be able to participate freely, but not necessarily like your brand / page.

Speaking from an ethics point of view, personally I feel it's not right. Why do you need to Like the brand before joining a contest? If your brand sucks, it sucks and that is the perception that the brand would need to fix though marketing efforts or PR, but definitely not forcing people who do not believe in the brand to Like the brand.

I am against this is because someone who Likes your page for the purpose of joining a contest or for the purpose of any promotional offer, is not a quality fan.

Don't understand why do some Facebook pages restrict would be fans

They would most likely tend forget, Unlike, or won't engage with your brand anymore once the contest / offer period is over. Why would this matter you ask? Well, simply put it in terms of advertising dollars. How much would you pay to get a non-quality fan versus a quality fan?

At the end of the day, the idea of having brand pages is all about having long term engagements with quality fans. Think about it. Would you rather have 5,000 fans with 1% engagement rate, or would you rather have 100,000 fans with 1% engagement rate? What then happened to the advertising dollars spent on getting those fans? The development cost for the application to run that contest? Would it be money well spent if your goal was to grow fans by fan-gating then? Maybe not. Similar to respect, Likes should be earned and not forced upon.

What do you think? Should brands fan-gate?

All You Ever Wanted To Know About McDonald's

Ever wondered how McDonald's burger patties are made? What goes into making the perfect Big Mac? What are Chicken McNuggets made of? These are some commonly asked questions about McDonald's globally and I bet even you would like to know the answers to them as well. 

Image credit: business.time.com

Well now you can. McDonald's Canada (@McD_Canada) gives their customers to ask everything and anything about their food.

I first came across this when a colleague of mine shared a video which showed Hope Bagozzi, Director of Marketing of McDonald's Canada going down the field to answer a customer's question on "Why does your food look different in the advertising than what is in the store?". Bagozzi went to a McDonald's outlet, then bought a burger and brought it back to the photo studio and made a comparison to explain why that the ad and the real burgers are different.

The thought of opening a question forum like this, is always subjected to pros and cons. In this case, McDonald's as a brand seemed "more caring" especially when Bagozzi went on ground and took effort to shoot a video to answer a question posted by one of their customers. Customers do appreciate the effort for doing so and in turn, they will trust the brand more for it's transparency, honesty and effort. However, things like these could also lead customers into posting stupid things or using it as a channel to complain or to vent hate about the brand.

Q: "When you say 100% beef, do you mean whole cow: the organs, snout, brain, kidneys, etc or just plain beef we buy @ the grocer?"

Nevertheless, it's still a very good thing McDonald's Canada did. I love the campaign for the fact that they do not rely on a Facebook page for customer interaction, and I do hope that customers would use it for getting answers rather than for malicious intend.

Campaign site: http://yourquestions.mcdonalds.ca/
Note: You can only post questions if you're residing in Canada as it detects your IP address

BeerBeary: Jaz Beer Viral Videos - Part 2

A couple of posts back, I posted some viral videos done by Jaz beer to promote beer drinking tips and tricks. Again, they did a very good job to promote the beer brand here where the main target audience is obviously male beer drinkers. It's very cleverly done as they don't over promote the product. All I can say is a hot girl and beer somehow always seem to go well together.

Episode 4: How to Freeze a Beer in 10 Seconds!

Episode 5: How to "Bottoms Up" a Bottle of Beer in 11 Seconds!

Episode 6: How to Brew Your Own Fresh Beer

BeerBeary: Jaz Beer Viral Videos

A colleague recently sent me some links about some local viral videos which I personally think has been really well executed. The videos feature a girl speaking in local Cantonese about beer. In the first episode, she talks about how many beers before one fails a breathalyzer test. I bet not many people know (not even myself!) that all it takes is 2 bottles of beer to exceed the local alcohol limit of 0.05%.

In the second episode, she teaches one how to cheat on a breathalyzer test during a roadblock after a night out. I really can relate to the fact that all the methods shown are commonly used by drinkers to make them think that they can cheat the breathalyzer test on their way back home. Key message at the end of this video is that no matter what method you try, you can't cheat on the breathalyzer test and is always better to call a cab, or ask a friend for a ride home if you have drank more than you should. A clever way to entice you watch the video to begin with.

In the third episode, she give tips on how to open a beer bottle without a bottle opener. I think that this is probably my favourite video because I find it useful and not to mention, you can show off to your friends as well.

In summary, I think these videos are brilliant because of:

1. Local content which people can appreciate and relate. The way the girl presents it makes it seem natural and unscripted to a certain extend.
2. Clever product placement and branding. Very minimal and not "in your face", but yet people notice the brand.
3. Content is surprisingly educational. Who would have thought you can educate the public about the dangers of drunk driving this way.
4. The hot girl...obviously

The "Perfect C" Viral Campaign

I was researching through some online viral campaigns to get some ideas that I stumbled across this brilliant viral video campaign.

If you don’t understand Cantonese, the video above shows a young girl who is pissed off at her ex-boyfriend for dumping her 3 months ago. Before they started dating, he used to pay for everything, and once they got together, they went Dutch, but she was still cool with that. The final straw was when he dumps her because her breasts were too small (AA cups). Later, she went for a boob job and now has C-cup breasts and taunts him that no matter what he cannot get to touch or get anywhere near those C-cups ever again.

Now, I must say, this is a very “hook, line and sinker” style of marketing. It build so much talkability and hype that it generated 700k+ views in just a matter of 10 days. The girls’ main intention here is obviously payback for him stereotyping girls with small breasts…or at least that’s what they want you to think. The second part of the video shows the ex-boyfriend who “responds” to her video.

Noticed I used the word “they”? “They” as in the company.

Now in retaliation, the ex-boyfriend looks a bit annoyed at what she has done (who wouldn't?). However, he does not believe she has C-cup breast and asks her to prove it. He says the only way she can get C-cup breasts in 3 months is if you take this (he then whips out the product that “they” were trying to sell). The Perfect C Breast Enhancer! That’s the product. At the end of the video, he even tells you where to get it by giving the website. Brilliant marketing don’t you think? It really shows that online viral marketing really does work!

By the way, more on the product can be found here: The Perfect C