The 'Bhai' exchange: Nothing Phone CEO refers to X user as 'bhai', sparks hilarity

Carl Pei referred to an X user as 'bhai' and a hilarious banter ensued.

Ahead of the launch of Nothing Phone 2a on March 5, CEO Carl Pei is kicking up a storm on social media. It is safe to say that if you are an Indian, you understand the importance that the word “Bhai” has for everyone. “Bhai”, which means brother in English is an emotion and there is no denying that.

So, when Pei referred to an X user as “bhai”, it obviously sent social media users in a tizzy. The incident happened when Nothing India shared a picture of their brand ambassador on X. It was just a closeup of a man’s eye but eagle-eyed netizens were sure that it was none other than Ranveer Singh.

“Why is a brand ambassador needed?” a user named Raman Singh questioned on the post. Responding to that in quirky way, Pei wrote, “Want to sell more phones bhai”.

We want to sell more phones bhai https://t.co/c9mAH7NGWP

— Carl Bhai (@getpeid) February 18, 2024

Subsequently, another user referred to Pei as “bhai” and the it made the CEO change his name to “Carl Bhai” on X.

The official account of Nothing India also changed its handle name to “Nothing India Bhai”. The social media team also shared hilarious “bhai-related” memes that left netizens in splits.

Who did this and didn't add the OG bhai @BeingSalmanKhan?

Sorry bhai pic.twitter.com/cKNqVjaXqC

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— Nothing India Bhai (@nothingindia) February 18, 2024

Making a thread for y'all to drop all the Bhai memes for Carl Bhai @getpeid and Akis Bhai @AkisEvangelidis

We'll go first. pic.twitter.com/ZxT0i4uadX

— Nothing India Bhai (@nothingindia) February 18, 2024

The banter that ensued also prompted Nothing’s co-founder Akis Evangelidis to change his handle name to “Akis Bhai”.

That’s not all, Pei’s “bhai bug” caught hold of Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas who changed his name to “Aravind Bhai” on X. Reacting to Pei's initial post, Srinivas quipped, "Carl Bhai, kab hamara partnership (Carl brother, when is our partnership going to happen)?"

"Only if you change your name to Aravind Bhai," the CEO retorted.

Partnership official now! https://t.co/aQ4eFdv8bg

— Aravind Bhai (@AravSrinivas) February 18, 2024

The "bhai" exchange garnered so much attention on X that Nothing India promised the upcoming phone to 10 lucky winners who change their name to "bhai" and post screenshots tagging Carl Pei and Nothing India.

#ContestAlert

Add 'Bhai' to your username like Carl Bhai @getpeid did and share a screenshot tagging @nothingindia.

10 lucky people get a Phone (2a). Winners to be announced on 1 March, 2024.

T&C apply.

— Nothing India Bhai (@nothingindia) February 18, 2024

Meanwhile, Nothing Phone 2a will be manufactured in India, confirmed Pei. The smartphone is expected to have a 6.7-inch OLED display, dual-camera module, 8GB RAM and 128GB of internal storage. The phone is expected to run on MediaTek's Dimensity 7200 SoC and will most likely have Android 14.

Bhai Bhai!