After Twitter row over ad gone wrong, Kent apologises for 'hurting sentiments'
Mr Mahesh Gupta, CMD of Kent RO Systems, has issued an official apology.
By ET Online | Updated:
Agencies
The healthcare company is in the eye of the storm.
Indian advertisements, since time immemorial, have continued to intrigue the country’s audience and pique their curiosity quite unlike any other medium. However, on Wednesday, Kent RO Systems received massive backlash for allegedly coming up with a 'classist' and 'misogynist' advertisement. Mr. Mahesh Gupta, the CMD of Kent RO Systems has now issued an official apology, for 'hurting sentiments'.
I wrote to Mr. Mahesh Gupta, CMD of @KentROSystems last evening, requesting him to take this ad. down. Today an off… https://t.co/1x6stSORZo
'Our recent advertisement of Kent Atta & Bread Maker on social media was unintentional, badly communicated and was wrong. We are extremely sorry for this incident and want to apologise to everyone, especially the people whose sentiments were hurt', read the apology.
The statement also went on to elaborate on how the advertisement was contrary to the beliefs and professional standards of Kent and that they will investigate how the 'advertisement standards were compromised.'
Kent, a healthcare company known for its RO systems, had come up with an ad for an atta and bread maker. To promote the new product, Kent’s new ad, which shows up as an Instagram carousel has phrases like “are you allowing your maid to knead atta dough by hand?” and “her hands may be infected”, written on it.
The ad got massive backlash from netizens. The phrase “her hands may be infected” didn’t go down well with many on Twitter who accused the brand of being ‘classist’. Twitter users slammed Kent with some suggesting that the brand, known for its RO systems, should first ‘purify their own thoughts’ and others, calling out the blatant dehumanisation of the domestic help.
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This netizen felt that the ad suggests that only a maid’s hands would be unclean. The Twitter user was of the opinion that as a working woman, her life has been made easy by maids who work hard around the clock, to earn a living for their families. ‘Pity that Ad maker ridicules it,’ added the user.
This Kent Ad provoked some thoughts. In a classist way the ad suggests that only a maid’s hand could be unclean. As… https://t.co/ZcPfIqiFRw
Some netizens urged people to not buy products from Kent, thereby calling for a collective boycott of all goods manufactured by the healthcare company because of their ‘anti-maid’ advertising. This, however, is not the first time Indian consumers have called for a boycott of a particular brand.
In 2017, Indian users had called for a boycott of Snapchat because its CEO Evan Spiegel, allegedly called India poor. #BoycottSnapchat started doing the rounds on social media and several misguided Indian users also went on to boycott e-commerce website Snapdeal instead.
No one should buy Kent products simply because the owners own this sort of anti- maid advertising.Thise women work… https://t.co/vP0JKlnOTB
From Cambridge Analytica Scandal To ‘Fake News’, Zuckerberg Remains Controversy’s Child
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A Harvard-dropout, a serial entrepreneur, a tech genius and the founder of one of the biggest social media platforms in the world, Mark Zuckerberg is undoubtedly one of the most celebrated and renowned figures in the world of tech.
The fifth-richest person in the world, Zuckerberg’s name is often taken in the same breath as well-established multi-billionaires like Bill Gates, Elon Musk and other tech moguls. However, if you were to take a closer look at the life of the Facebook founder, you will see that his journey hasn’t been an easy one.
Zuckerberg has often faced a lot of flak and backlash, mostly for the policies that are enforced on Facebook and the techie has had to go to great lengths to justify them, including testifying before the Congress.
As the entrepreneur turns 36, we take a look at some of Zuckerberg’s biggest controversies and how the tech mogul dealt with them.
A Harvard-dropout, a serial entrepreneur, a tech genius and the founder of one of the biggest social media platforms in the world, Mark Zuckerberg is undoubtedly one of the most celebrated and renown..
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Over the last decade, Facebook and subsequently its founder Zuckerberg has found himself embroiled in many controversies but never has there been a scandal like Cambridge Analytica which shook up not just the entire US but also the world of tech.
Cambridge Analytica, is a British voter profiling company which campaigned for US President Donald Trump during the 2016 US Presidential Elections. The British firm used the data obtained from Facebook to target the likely supporters of President Trump during the online election campaign.
Cambridge Analytica claimed that they had the data for 30 million Facebook users out of 2.2 billion users.
The scandal was so huge, that it sparked an online debate about how social media websites like Facebook and Twitter handle user data. It also inspired a Netflix documentary, ‘The Great Hack’, which covered the scandal in detail.
Over the last decade, Facebook and subsequently its founder Zuckerberg has found himself embroiled in many controversies but never has there been a scandal like Cambridge Analytica which shook up not..
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After the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Zuckerberg found himself in hot water again, but this time, it was not because of the breach of user data or privacy concerns.It was over political ads.
The political ads on Facebook had always been the centre of conversation and there had been much conjecture over their accuracy (or lack thereof). In 2019, in a speech at Georgetown University in mid-October, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, ‘We don’t fact-check political ads’.
"We don't do this to help politicians, but because we think people should be able to see for themselves what politicians are saying. And if content is newsworthy, we also won't take it down even if it would otherwise conflict with many of our standards."
For the uninitiated, Facebook employs a third-party fact-checker to ensure the ads on the platform are accurate, but political ads are apparently exempted from the fact-checking. As a result, both Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg got a lot of flak not just from users, but even politicians like Senator Elizabeth Warren and Alexandria Ocaso-Cortez.
After the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Zuckerberg found himself in hot water again, but this time, it was not because of the breach of user data or privacy concerns.It was over political ads.The poli..
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Facebook and subsequently Zuckerberg have often been criticized for not fighting the menace of ‘fake news’ and not taking appropriate measures to curb its spread. According to a Vox report, during the 2016 US Presidential Elections, several stories surfaced on Facebook which were ‘misleading, sloppily reported, or in some cases totally made up’.
Several pieces of fake news, like Pope endorsing Donald Trump and several other bogus stories did rounds on Facebook. Post the outcome of the 2016 US Presidential Elections, there was a fierce online debate on whether the ‘fake news’ on Facebook could have swung the election in favour of the US President Donald Trump.
In the year 2018, Mark Zuckerberg came up with an apologetic post outlining ways that the platform will tackle the problem.
Facebook and subsequently Zuckerberg have often been criticized for not fighting the menace of ‘fake news’ and not taking appropriate measures to curb its spread. According to a Vox report, during th..
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In 2013, Facebook came up with ‘Free Basics’ which provided users with access to certain websites for free, without data charges, in places where Internet access may be less affordable. However, ‘Free Basics’, soon sparked online protests as some users felt that it was a violation of net neutrality.
Soon, several Indian start-ups and telecom regulators pulled out of Facebook’s ‘Free Basics’ to protect net neutrality. Commenting on the events, Mark Zuckerberg defended ‘Free Basics’ in a Facebook post, writing, "If someone can’t afford to pay for connectivity, it is always better to have some access than none at all."
Several Indian users argued that if access to certain websites was given for free, users would prefer using those websites putting others at a disadvantage. Zuckerberg tried to defend ‘Free Basics’ but he couldn’t woo Indians.
In 2013, Facebook came up with ‘Free Basics’ which provided users with access to certain websites for free, without data charges, in places where Internet access may be less affordable. However, ‘Fre..
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On May 10, 2010, which also happened to be Memorial Day, a large-scale online event called ‘Quit Facebook Day’ was organized where a large number of users decided to delete their Facebook accounts.
The number one reason for users to quit Facebook was privacy concerns (48%), being followed by a general dissatisfaction with Facebook (14%), negative aspects regarding Facebook friends (13%), and the feeling of getting addicted to Facebook (6%).
The coordinated mass exodus saw a large number of people delete their Facebook accounts and several signed an online petition at Quitfacebookday.com.
On May 10, 2010, which also happened to be Memorial Day, a large-scale online event called ‘Quit Facebook Day’ was organized where a large number of users decided to delete their Facebook accounts.Th..
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The Facebook algorithm customizes and personalizes every user’s news feed as per their likes and dislikes. This is also one of Facebook’s major attractions as the news feed is tailored as per the user’s needs.
However, the flipside to personalization is the echo chamber, where the user is being presented only with those opinions which align with their worldview, thus limiting their horizons.
The Facebook algorithm customizes and personalizes every user’s news feed as per their likes and dislikes. This is also one of Facebook’s major attractions as the news feed is tailored as per the use..
