Let’s start today with a quick game. Take a look at the image below for just one second, not more.

Now, if we were to ask you what brand came to mind first, there is a good chance the answer would be “Maggi Noodles”. The image, as you’ll see if you spend more than a second, shows a packet of Patanjali Noodles.  

This is what a pack of Maggi Noodles actually looks like:

Here is a close-up of both the products side by side:

Notice the similarities—everything from the choice of the colours to the choice of imagery is uncannily similar, yet just different enough to be distinct (say, keep the characteristic red and yellow, but invert). Must be an accident, right?

Perhaps not.

Let’s play the game again. Take a look at this image for one second, just one second, and tell us what comes to mind.

Cadbury’s 5 Star, anyone? It’s obviously not—this is a caramel chocolate from Patanjali called Super Star—but the name and the visual cues immediately bring to mind 5 Star. Here’s an actual one for comparison:

A coincidence? If once is an accident and twice is a coincidence, what would you say if it happens three times? Five times? Ten times? Here, take a look.

Patanjali oats on the left, Kellogg’s Heart to Heart brand of oats on the right.

Patanjali biscuits on the left, Britannia’s Good Day biscuits on the right.

Patanjali’s basmati rice on the left, Daawat’s on the right.

Ditto with brown rice from the same two brands.

Coming back to Cadbury again, Patanjali’s got Power Vita (now, what does that sound like?), a brown powder that’s a “herbal health and brain tonic”, with a chocolate flavour.

The similarities don’t stop at just food items. Here is Patanjali’s Kesh Kanti hair oil.

Now compare this with Emami’s Kesh King hair oil below.

And Patanjali’s Green Flush toilet cleaner with Harpic (see the labels).

While we are going to stop now, rest assured that this is by no means the entire set—there are several more examples where Patanjali products are eerily reminiscent of other brands.

Clearly, there is a zero percent chance that this is a coincidence.