If you’re on social media, it’s likely that you’ve come across some version of Fruit Love Island, an AI-generated drama based on ITV Entertainment’s Love Island but with anthropomorphic fruits. Millions across the world are now deeply invested in the love triangle of Bananito, Cherrita, and Strawberrita. Or perhaps ‘love polygon’ is a term better suited for it since its myriad of characters cheat on everyone on this “show”. There’s tragedy, revenge plots, reversal of fortune, and even intergenerational trauma. Nothing is off the table.
On Instagram, there’s @fruitstoryversehq, @talkingthingsss, @fruitthinks, @overcookmyself and more that drop ‘episodes’ of such fruit drama daily. But orbiting this universe are also other inanimate objects that have come to life. Take, for instance, @perfumesguy, where the protagonists aren’t fruits but fragrances.
The first fragrance review I came across from this account was of YSL Y, courtesy of my colleague Naheed Driver, who is somewhat of a connoisseur of such AI-generated marvels. The video opens with: “Mujhe pehenne wale ladke shor nahi karte, woh kaam karte hai aur nateeje bolte hai” (men who wear me don’t make noise, they work and show results). Naturally, this EDP bottle is the man of my dreams—who doesn’t love a breadwinner? I was hooked. I listened assiduously as it told me that when women smell it (or in this case, him), they aren’t shocked but somehow come to the conclusion that “Yeh banda ‘sattle’ hai” (this guy is settled...or subtle I’m not sure). It was the most bizarre thing I had come across on the internet that week, and I forwarded it to my friends immediately.
Adi, the creator behind @perfumesguy, sees his work as a way to democratise fragrance culture. “Earlier, only experts or niche communities talked about perfumes. But now, anyone with a passion for scent can contribute to the conversation,” he says. Inspired by anthropomorphic fruit videos, he wanted to try out the format without simply copying it. “It was trending in a niche at the time. By the time I started, it had already blown up on the internet.” With a self-confessed “fraghead” older brother at home, the idea clicked: use generative AI to turn perfumes into characters and build storytelling around them. What began as curiosity quickly turned into a genuine interest in fragrance itself. “You could say it’s a really recent passion,” he adds.
The first video he created on Dior Sauvage, a crowd favourite, earned him 1,000 followers within three days. Since launching the page in late January 2026, the Patna-based creator has racked up a following of 35k, with some Reels clocking millions of views.
There’s Tom Ford Ombre Leather, reimagined with muscular arms, who isn’t “SFW” but can be “worn to a nightclub with a black outfit”. Carolina Herrera Good Girl Blush “appears cute but shouldn’t be underestimated” and evokes the feeling of walking through a field of flowers in a “light pink dress on a sunny afternoon”. The characters in these Reels land somewhere between a mini fragrance review and an archetype—it’s as though you’re being introduced to who the wearer of a particular fragrance might be at a party, or at work, which, one could argue, is far more useful than just learning how something smells. Instead of just abstract olfactory notes—oud, vetiver, bergamot—you’re able to envision a specific type of person: the gym bro, the girlboss, the player. In a way, these videos solve one of the biggest challenges of fragrances: how do you describe something people can’t smell?
