Social Samosa takes a look at 7 brand social media controversies - both Indian and global that happened in 2017.
Social media today has given people the freedom to express their opinion in any matter. On one hand, this comes as a boon, but it has also made the situation extremely tough. Now people and brands are always under public scrutiny and the fear of hurting people's sentiments and resulting in backlash.
Several big brands, both Indian and global, had their tryst with controversies this year. They faced the ire of social media.
Social Samosa takes a look at 7 brand social media crisis - both Indian and global that happened in 2017.
PLAYGARD
Bipasha Basu and her husband Karan Singh Grover were trolled vehemently on social media for endorsing a condom brand and shooting a sensuous and 'cheesy' advertisement.
I think Bipasha did the Playgard Advertisement just to embarrass John.
During Durga Puja this year, a cartoon that appeared in the local dailies of West Bengal depicting Goddess Durga and her children chilling in Jawed Habib's salon drew a lot of social media backlash. The stylist in the end had to come and apologise in front of everyone.
The Zomato ad, with letters that are short for Hindi language expletives, started going viral on Twitter and Facebook with people calling it sexist, cheap and crass. The ad had to be pulled down because of all the flak. Experts even criticized the ad for being in bad taste.
Traders' body CAIT asked the Centre to ban an outdoor advertisement in Gujarat of Manforce endorsed by actress Sunny Leone, saying it was derogatory and encouraged the youth to use its condoms in the name of Navratri festival. According to reports, the brand had to remove 500 such hoardings across Gujarat, following the massive controversy and it even apologized that the intension was not to hurt any sentiment.
#Manforce advt is in bad taste. They should withdraw the Ad n apologise. It is offensive to #Gujarati, portrays Navratri & Garba wrongly.
The ad, a three-second GIF, featured three women, each removing her shirt to reveal the next. The ads showed a black woman turning white with the use of Dove body wash. Following the massive social media backlash, Dove apologized and removed the ad from social media.
We strongly condemn this racist campaign by @Dove & note with concern that this is not the first time they've been called out for racism. pic.twitter.com/28FEazUprx
Nivea ads were also in the centre of a social media storm after they were accused of promoting Natural Fairness Body Lotion, a cream that promises, according to the tagline, 'visibly fairer skin.' There were severe criticism in Ghana and several social media users calling for a boycott of Nivea products and for the ads to be pulled, using the #pullitdownnow hashtag.
Pepsi
Pepsi had to apologize for a controversial advertisement featuring Kendall Jenner that borrowed imagery from the Black Lives Matter movement, following intense criticism from people who said it trivialized the widespread protests against the killings of black people by the police. The brand had to also remove the ad from YouTube.
Who thought an ad using the themes of resistance ending with Kendell Jenner handing a cop a Pepsi was a good idea? https://t.co/dqlss7kFbT
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