Earlier this week, Prime Minister Modi gifted Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni a packet of Melody toffees. Meloni posted a video. It went viral. And primetime Indian television, in a moment of collective editorial judgment, went what kids these days call “ape s**t”.

On state broadcaster DD News, Sudhir Chaudhary reported that the video crossed 9.8 million views on X alone, calling it “a monumental feat, nothing short of a miracle.” Melody packets began showing up as “unavailable on the quick-delivery platforms of Flipkart and Amazon,” as Rajat Sharma reported on India TV.

Chaudhary, on DD News, concluded that “Is chhoti si toffee mein Bharat aur Italy ke kootneetik mithaas aur collaboration ka ek bahut bada sandesh hai,” (contained within this small toffee is a profound message of diplomatic sweetness and collaboration between India and Italy) and that Modi had “effectively translated the language of diplomacy into the language of social media.” (Diplomacy ko social media ki bhasha mein badal diya hai”)

Not to be left behind, Anjana Om Kashyap on Aaj Tak declared, “Italy ke Rome mein jab Pradhan Mantri Modi ne Pradhan Mantri Georgia Meloni ko Melodi Toffi ka ek packet gift ke roop mein diya tab kootneeti ki duniya mein ek naye trend ki shuruaat ho gayi.” (A new trend in the world of diplomacy was set in motion when Prime Minister Modi, while in Rome, presented Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni with a packet of 'Melody' toffees as a gift.)

She added that it was a “trend jismein soft power ka ek naya model chhupa tha” (a trend that harboured a novel model of soft power). But she didn’t stop there, adding that “pehle kisi ne socha nahi tha ki ek ki toffee kootnaitik sambandhon mein wo kaam kar sakti hai jo baaki cheezen nahi kar paati hain”. (Until now, no one had ever even conceived that a one-rupee toffee could accomplish something in diplomatic relations that other things simply cannot.)

Chitra Tripathi on ABP News catalogued the visit like a travel diary: Meloni tweeting “Welcome to Rome, my friend” on Modi’s arrival, a private dinner, a conversation “while gazing out at the Rome skyline,” Meloni personally guiding Modi through the Colosseum, then driving him around Rome in her own car. The show reported that the song ‘Yeh Dosti Hum Nahin’ from the movie Sholay was trending on social media. Before her show aired, she posted a video on Instagram posing the rather profound question: “Melody itni choclaty kyun hai?” (Why is Melody so chocolaty?) She then wondered aloud whether it might have an effect as “amazing” as Modi eating jhalmuri before the Bengal elections.

However, it was Amish Devgan on News18 India who offered the pithiest summary of the consensus view: “In global politics, diplomacy is determined by chemistry.” 

And then Aishwarya Kapoor on Republic Bharat delivered what may be the most remarkable sentence of the entire coverage cycle – that Rahul Gandhi “has completely lost his composure” because “Italy happens to be Rahul Gandhi's maternal home; yet, even in his own maternal home, the chants of 'Modi, Modi' are ringing out.” (Aur ye Italy kya hai? Rahul Gandhi ka nanihaal hai. Toh Rahul Gandhi ke nanihaal mein bhi ‘Modi Modi’ ho raha hai toh Rahul Gandhi ko samajh nahi aa raha, baukla gaye Rahul Gandhi.)

Rahul Gandhi had earlier criticised Modi on X, stating: “An economic storm is raging over our heads, and our Prime Minister is busy handing out candies in Italy! While farmers, youth, women, labourers, and small traders are in tears, the PM is laughing and making reels, and BJP supporters are clapping along. This isn’t leadership; it’s a farce.”

Sushant Sinha of Time Now Navbharat quote-tweeted Meloni, saying, “Italy’s PM is a woman, and women are usually more prone to judgment, yet she's cool because her country doesn't have the ecosystem that creates a spectacle out of this video. And here, even the so-called ‘Mohabbat ki Dukaan’ folks and their customers can’t digest this. What a spectacle it is.”

Through all of this, one correction slipped through. Rajat Sharma on India TV noted that Parle Industries, the company whose shares had surged, “has absolutely nothing to do with Melody toffees” and that “there is no connection whatsoever.” Parle Industries is an infrastructure and real estate firm. The actual manufacturer, Parle Products, is not listed on any exchange. Investors had bought the wrong company’s shares in their excitement over a toffee. Sharma reported this, moved on, and the coverage continued.

On its website, meanwhile, India Today posted a byline story with the headline, “SRK charges Rs 15 crore, Ronaldo Rs 25 crore. Modi did it for free for Parle Melody,” noting how Modi's “sweet gesture” has "turned a neighbourhood favourite in India into a soft-power moment" while going on to explain “how diplomacy gave Parle Products the kind of marketing boost that influencers and celebrities can’t.” 

Modi’s rapport with Meloni is genuine, and the toffee moment was, in its way, an effective distraction given all the noise around his decision to avoid taking questions from the Norwegian and Dutch press earlier this week. Ultimately, a one-rupee toffee generated hours of primetime coverage. The difficult questions of international diplomacy generated none.

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