Brands And The Ugly Feuds.

Over the years, many giant brands and businesses have garnered attention not only because of their success in the market but also by stirring up controversies. To receive recognition and hit the target audience, brands constantly struggle to stand apart in the competitive marketing structure. 

Annually, thousands of advertisements and hundreds of campaigns are initiated to reach out to the marketing landscape and create top of the mind content. But in order to outshine amongst others, their creativity backfires thus inducing great controversies and raising eyebrows amidst the audience. 

Let’s dig out the most common examples where famous brands failed with their creativity and received backlash while landing themselves in hot waters.

1. Hindustan Unilever.
   The famous brand released an ad campaign “Rang Laye Sang” during the religious Hindu festival of India called Holi. The commercial promoted the feeling of harmony and unity while depicting two kids, a Muslim boy and a Hindu girl. In the ad, the girl protects the boy from getting splashed with colors by other kids while he’s on his way to the mosque. The Ad apart from receiving appreciation for communal harmony also stirred up the “love jihad” theory, as many claimed that this ad prioritized the importance of Muslim prayers over the Hindu festival.
2. Zomato.
   The famous online food delivery brand heated a lot of debate when a customer tweeted a request to change the delivery boy belonging to another religion. The brand’s CEO later replied on Twitter stating that “the company doesn’t segregate people based on their caste, creed or religion and that food has a religion of its own”. After receiving appreciation for the brand’s move by many, a wave of backlash got #BoycottZomato trending on Twitter.
3. Amazon.
   In 2019, the e-commerce hegemon Amazon also got trapped into a series of controversies. The brand was accused of selling slippers, doormats, and toilet seat covers featuring graphics of Hindu Gods and Goddesses. The Indian community took great offense to it, claiming that Amazon has repeatedly hurt the sentiments of Indian people and their religion. Eventually, the online retailer was urged to remove the products from the online market.