An episode of Man vs. Wild, hosted by Bear Grylls featuring Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has beaten the Super Bowl record for the most number of social media impressions. The episode aired over a week ago, and garnered 3.6 billion impressions online, reportedly making it the world's most trending episode.
Grylls tweeted on Monday, "Officially the world's most trending televised event! With 3.6 BILLION impressions! (Beating Super Bowl 53 which had 3.4 billion social impression)"
"#1 in India & #1 Worldwide with 3.6 billion impressions. SO AWESOME! THANK YOU!!! (For reference: Super Bowl 53 had 3.4 billion social impressions for the game itself)", tweeted Delbert Shoopman, co-creator of the show.
‘Officially the world’s most trending televised event! With 3.6 BILLION impressions!’ 💥💥 (Beating ‘Super Bowl 53 which had 3.4 billion social impressions.) THANK YOU everyone who tuned in! 🙏🏻 #PMModionDiscovery #ManVsWild #india https://t.co/OvfRD9EIcq pic.twitter.com/1E0HwiI6ME
— Bear Grylls (@BearGrylls) August 19, 2019
The host went to India to spend a day with Modi in the jungles of Jim Corbett, located in the foothills of the Himalayas. It created a lot of buzz when the trailer dropped on July 29.
What better than the lush green jungles of India, in the midst of Mother Nature to throw light on environmental conservation and climate change..Do join at 9 PM tonight! https://t.co/RdndTgUtCF
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 12, 2019
The hashtag #PMModiOnDiscovery soon turned into a Twitter storm. With over 1.2 billion impressions, #PMModiOnDiscovery became one of the most used hashtags on Twitter to promote a television show ever, according to The Statesman in July.
In a span of fewer than 12 hours since it was first tweeted, the hashtag reached 728 million users through over 204.2K mentions.
Aired on August 12, the episode showed the Prime Minister and Grylls roughing it in the wild, talking about Modi's personal life and crossing a river on a makeshift raft. Modi, who was recently reelected in India with a resounding victory, was hailed for highlighting issues on environment conservation. Some supporters even held special screenings in theaters for the event.
However, the Indian Prime Minister, who has been accused of being a Hindu supremacist pushing for a far-right agenda, was also heavily criticized by his detractors for using the platform as a publicity stunt when the country is facing a major economic slowdown, according to NDTV's report in August.
"Bear Grylls: I eat beef, snake, alligator, zebra, yak, goat testicles etc Modi: I have eaten peace, economy, brotherhood, currency, industry, a full state, still counting," a user tweeted.
While another posted, "Rupee opens weak at 71.14 per dollar. The Rupee is sinking, the economy is in recession & jobs are at an all time low. But PM Modi is too busy promoting his appearance on a TV show to care. #ManVsWild"
The economy is in slowdown mode.
— Shihabudeen Kunju S (@skunjus) August 12, 2019
More than half of the country is facing floods-like situation and 100s have lost their lives and livelihoods.
His policies are full of blunders and his followers have made lynching a hobby.
But, Nero has got entertainment for you! #ManVsWild pic.twitter.com/4Dz8J1NbPf
In 2015, Grylls had also filmed the survivalist show with President Barack Obama where the two had explored Alaskan wilderness. On similarities between Obama and Modi, Grylls recently told ANI, "For me it was really heartening to see such powerful men like Barack Obama and Narendra Modi stand up and say together that we've got to do this, we have the power to do this"
