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Tag: Twitterati

  • Tanishq: Should brands buckle to trolls & boycotts?

    Tanishq: Should brands buckle to trolls & boycotts?

    NEW DELHI: Last week, #BabaKaDhaba went viral and showed the positive impact social media can have when used constructively. However, this week the internet was once again caught in a digital storm, divided on an ad posted by Titan Group’s Tanishq. The popular jewellery brand recently launched a new ad titled Ekatvamto celebrate “unity in oneness.” 

    The 45-second Tanishqspot, released ahead of the festive season, showed a baby shower being thrown by a Muslim family for their daughter-in-law, who is a Hindu. In the video, the young woman, realising that the ceremony has been organised conforming with Hindu traditions, anxiously asks her mother-in-law: "Par yeh rasam toh aapke ghar mein nahi hoti hai na? (But this ceremony is not observed at your place, is it not so?)," to which the latter replies, "Bitiya ko khush karne ki rasam toh har ghar mein hoti hai na? (The ceremony to make the daughter happy is held in every house, isit not so?)"

    The description of the Tanishq commercial is as follows: “She is married into a family that loves her like their own child. Only for her, they go out of their way to celebrate an occasion that they usually don’t. A beautiful confluence of two different religions, traditions, and cultures.” 

    No sooner was the ad posted than it met with vicious trolling and expletives by a section of social media users who alleged that it promoted ‘love jihad’ and began trending the hashtag #BoycottTanishq.

    However, another section of users on Twitter also supported India’s most trusted jewellery brand, lauding its effort to highlight that interfaith marriages can work and upholding the idea of a secular India.

    Taken aback by the controversy, Tanishq pulled down the spot, tweeting, “One as a Nation. One as Humanity.’ That is what Ekatvam stands for,” to reiterate the message of communal harmony in the film.

    Yesterday, it once again gave a lengthier explanation on Twitter why it took the extreme step: “The idea behind the Ekatvam campaign is to celebrate the coming together of people from different walks of life, local communities and families during these challenging times and celebrate the beauty of oneness. This film has stimulated divergent and severe reactions, contrary to its very objective. We are deeply saddened by this inadvertent stirring of emotions and withdraw this film, keeping in mind the hurt sentiments and well-being of our employees, partners and store staff.”

    Which once again got the trollers annoyed, who stated the boycott Tanishq campaign would continue as the brand had insinuated that the trollers would resort to strong arm tactics, showing “Hindus” in poor light.

    Various brands in India have faced a similar situation where they had to buckle to the collective pressure on social media. But should brands bow down to these attacks? 

    Brand expert N. Chandramouli says that brands that have attempted to take a brave moral stance should anticipate recoil from those on social media. "The portents are not good if a brand takes a step back, as it shows a lack of courage, conviction, and spine." 

    He further says that a brand may do away with an ad under various circumstances, and not all of them are due to boycott calls. “Sometimes there are certain calls that may get made that pressurise the management. Sometimes, of course, the boycott calls are so vociferous, that the brand does so on its own. However, in both cases, the brand’s image gets tarnished due to the pull-back.”

    Brand-nomics MD Viren Razdan has a different take on the issue, when he asks: "If the ad has been pulled down, did Tanishq not foresee any such issues? Or were they okay with the controversy it would kick up? If it’s the latter then it’s really a new brand direction for them.”

    Nevertheless, this is not for the first time that a creative product has been brutally trolled for portraying Hindus and Muslims doing things out of the ordinary with each other. In 2019, just before the festival of Holi, Surf Excel had released an wherein a Hindu girl respects a young Muslim boy dressed all in white (going for his prayers) and prevents her friends from spraying him with coloured water. She then rides him to the mosque on her cycle, giving him a shield of protection all the way. Apparently, the film evoked a severe reaction on social media for promoting love jihad and for describing the colours of Holi as daag (stain). 

    Around the same time, Brooke Bond too got called out on Twitter for “portraying Kumbh Mela in a bad light” and “hurting the sentiments of Hindu pilgrims.”

    Even after producing brilliant creatives and thought-provoking ads, the question that arises in light of the Tanishq episode is: whether advertisers have any space for experimenting or going bold or touching grey areas while expressing oneselfcreatively?

    Chandramouli says that owing to the current state of affairs in the country, social media has become highly polarised. Trolls who have seen their actions yield ‘results’ resort to the tactics of provocation and outrage to drive negative sentiment against whatever challenges their biased views. “It must be remembered that when a big brand pulls back, it further encourages the trolls, and sets an incorrect impediment for other brands attempting to venture to do something bold.”

    Mirum India director of brand strategy and client services Mohit Ahuja also agrees that Tanishq’s fearful reaction has set a wrong precedent. "It not only bows to the pressure tactics of trolls who get braver by actions like these but also encourages similar action by other brands. It will make communication as a whole poorer. If advertising does not foster love and inclusivity, what will? Is communication like this not the main reason that most of us remain in advertising?"

    Using religion and politics in advertising is a ticking time bomb, as it requires a nuanced understanding of how the people of India, beyond one's Facebook friends, think.

    Scarecrow M&C Saatchi founder Raghu Bhatt opines that an ad is supposed to create goodwill and sales, not rancour and a product boycott.“If an ad is offending people, every brand will be sensible about it, apologise, and withdraw. The people who are criticising Tanishq for its action have nothing to lose. Unlike brand creators, brands can't have egos. Tanishq is sending a message that it doesn't want to hurt anyone's feelings,” he asserts.

    Rediffusion Y&R former president Dhunji S. Wadia wrote on his Facebook page: “Community before commerce has been the founding tenet of the Tata group (of which Titan and Tanishq are a part). If the life of even one employee is threatened then it's prudent to act in the individual's interest. Check out the threats to the marketing person on social media. Withdrawing the ad seems far gracious than putting your employee's life in danger. Keyboard warriors can keep bashing on. It won't tarnish the reputation of the group whose humane quality remains unmatched, #TanishqAd".

     Taproot Dentsu chief creative officer and co-founder Santosh Paddy declares that it’s high time that the industry stood together on issues such as these. “Why is our industry being targeted every single time? Creativity is the core of our business and we cannot be pushed in the corner every single time. We are the soft targets as brands are involved. It’s high time we give a hard push back, to theauthorities for this biased behaviour. It’s creative freedom for some and beating for some?”

    indiantelevision.com has compiled a list of ads which have faced criticism in the recent past: –

    Anouk Myntra

    The ad with the tagline 'Bold is Beautiful' by Anouk fashion brand under Myntra was applauded as well as criticised for taking on the sensitive topic of homosexuality. The ad featured a lesbian couple preparing to break the news to one set of parents.

    Kalyan Jewellers

    In 2018, Kalyan Jewellers withdrew an ad featuring Amitabh Bachchan and his daughter after it came under attack for creating 'distrust' in the banking system. People threatened to sue the brand for accusing it of "casting aspersion and hurting the sentiments of millions of personnel" through the advertisement.

    Amazon

    The e-commerce company found itself in the midst of a controversy for allegedly selling products like slippers, doormats, and toilet seat covers with the pictures of Hindu gods and goddesses. The pictures were widely circulated on social media and Amazon was roundly criticised for hurting the sentiments of Hindus. People expressed their displeasure on social media and raised calls to boycott the e-tailer.

    Gillette

    The brand launched a commercial asking men to be better versions of themselves, which sparked a debate about whether companies should simply stick to promoting their products or sell social causes.

    Ola

    Ride-hailing app, Ola rolled out an ad a few years back to promote the affordability proposition for its Micro service. The ad featured a young couple out shopping on the streets. The boyfriend, who is paying for his better half, eventually says: “My girlfriend costs Rs 525 per Km but Ola Micro costs just Rs 6 per km". The underlying message was that using an Ola Micro is cheaper than dating a woman. The campaign was attacked on social media for being sexist and was withdrawn by the company.

  • Netflix and chill but pay more now

    Netflix and chill but pay more now

    MUMBAI: Netflix has made Black Friday a dark day for its subscribers. The content company has increased prices for its standard and premium subscription packages. On 24 November, in an email sent to its subscribers, Netflix communicated that the increase in the membership cost will bring about an addition in content.

    The company’s email read: “The cost of your membership will increase to $10.99/$13.99. So we can add more of what you like to watch. Awesome entertainment built around you is what we’re all about. We have enhanced our features so you can download your favourites and watch without wifi, too.”

    The standard package, which allows subscribers to watch on two screens at once, will be bumped up from $9.99 to $10.99 per month. The premium package, which lets users watch 4K video on four different devices, will go up from $11.99 to $13.99. The basic $7.99 per month plan will remain the same for US subscribers.

    For the UK, the price for the standard plan is going up from £7.49 to £7.99 per month. Moreover, the price of the most premium plan is going up from £8.99 per month to £9.99. The price of the cheapest plan, however, will remain the same at £5.99 per month. 

    According to Netflix director communication Thomas Cherian, the price hike is not applicable for Indian subscribers because the market is nascent and it wants to build its presence. So, Indians can relax and ‘Netflix and chill’ at the same rates.

    But, Twitter was inundated with tweets by various subscribers outside India, taking to the platform to make their displeasure vocal. Announcing the price hike with an email notification has been considered a bold move by a few of the Twitterati and smart because it gets a place to hide amongst other emails.

    public://Netflix2.jpg

    Twitter links:

    https://twitter.com/bangordad/status/934058041460346881

    https://twitter.com/mxjrdn/status/934064057463734278

    https://twitter.com/TopAnnuity/status/932646366123261952

  • Air India, Jet and Indigo’s oops moment!

    Air India, Jet and Indigo’s oops moment!

    MUMBAI: Oops! Don’t jump the gun! That must be the lesson that state-owned airline Air India must have learned following the recent slugfest it got involved in on Twitter a couple of days ago.  Air India – normally known to be sedate and a quiet operator – had fired a salvo at rival private carrier Indigo Airlines by posting two pictures which stated “We raise our hands only to say Namaste!” and “Unbeatable Service” on the evening of 7 November.

    The two mischievous statements were targeted at Indigo which has been getting a lot of bad buzz and press thanks to a viral video (posted on 7 November) of one of its staffers manhandling and beating a customer.  In the past few months, fliers  have come out and bashed  the airline for the poor quality of customer service. In a recent incident, it did not allow Indian badminton star PV Sindhu to bring her sports gear on board and forced her to have it included in the checked in luggage.

    Needless to say the posts resulted in a lot of chuckles amongst Twitter users, something which is not known to be associated with the public sector airline. On most occasions, it is the butt of wise cracks and jokes for its service.

    What forced the normally quiet airline to get into a round of fisticuffs? Well it could very well have had to do with the posting of a picture –  purportedly by Jet Airways that stated “We beat our competition, not you” that went viral. 

    Seeing an opportunity of creating excitement amongst Twitterati, Air India too followed with its two posts later in the day.

    To its chagrin, Jet Airways issued a clarification on  its Twitter handle  (236,000 followers)  stating: “Jet Airways did not commission the creative being shared on social media platforms, in context of a recent event concerning another domestic airline. The creative does not reflect our philosophy and ethos and is in fact, in bad taste.”

    Air India was thus left in a quandary? Was it acting in bad taste? Apparently, someone thought so as its posts were deleted this morning. 

    The deletions caused Twitterati to question Air India  as to why was it backing off?

    As they say you can’t win ‘em all.

  • Movies Now joins hand with Romedy Now this Valentine’s

    Movies Now joins hand with Romedy Now this Valentine’s

    MUMBAI: This Valentine’s, Twitterati celebrated as two popular television channels brought the house down with the most innovative digital activity ever!

    In a first of its kind initiative, Movies Now flirted with Romedy Now and made it the most memorable Valentine’s Day for the twitter community who joined in the conversation to make sure Romedy NOW accepts the date.

    It all started at 10:30 am on February 14 when MOVIES NOW was seen making a move on Romedy NOW, who seemed a bit reticent initially, but finally agreed to go on a date with MOVIES NOW – only after MOVIES NOW pulled out all the moves to get Romedy NOW to #BeMyValentine.

    The two channels used dialogues from iconic movies and series to make the conversation an extraordinary one for all Twitterati. The conversation involved the followers of both brands to support them in their responses to each other, which enriched the exchange even more! 

    The unique activity was conceptualized by MOVIES NOW’s digital agency Carpe Diem and executed by agencies of both brands – Carpe Diem and Skarma.

  • Movies Now joins hand with Romedy Now this Valentine’s

    Movies Now joins hand with Romedy Now this Valentine’s

    MUMBAI: This Valentine’s, Twitterati celebrated as two popular television channels brought the house down with the most innovative digital activity ever!

    In a first of its kind initiative, Movies Now flirted with Romedy Now and made it the most memorable Valentine’s Day for the twitter community who joined in the conversation to make sure Romedy NOW accepts the date.

    It all started at 10:30 am on February 14 when MOVIES NOW was seen making a move on Romedy NOW, who seemed a bit reticent initially, but finally agreed to go on a date with MOVIES NOW – only after MOVIES NOW pulled out all the moves to get Romedy NOW to #BeMyValentine.

    The two channels used dialogues from iconic movies and series to make the conversation an extraordinary one for all Twitterati. The conversation involved the followers of both brands to support them in their responses to each other, which enriched the exchange even more! 

    The unique activity was conceptualized by MOVIES NOW’s digital agency Carpe Diem and executed by agencies of both brands – Carpe Diem and Skarma.

  • Twitterati become speed breakers as Twitter mulls 10K character limit

    Twitterati become speed breakers as Twitter mulls 10K character limit

    MUMBAI: The line between news and views are broadening with time. Spontaneity is inclining thick and fast towards social media with Twitter leading the race while views and opinions are filling television sets. If we take the recent earthquake in North East India for example, the news broke instantaneously on Twitter and even the Richter scale measurement was first revealed on the micro blogging website. Traditional media took more than two hours to put the first ticker on as the natural calamity struck the territories in the wee hours of the morning. The story was quite similar when former president of India APJ Abdul Kalam collapsed at a gathering and later breathed his last.

    If reports are to be believed then Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is planning to take the micro blogging social media platform’s character limit to a whopping 10,000 from 140. Of the 10,000 characters 140 of them will be visible as a tweet and rest will be a part of a story, which can be accessed after clicking on the ‘show more’ option.

    This is speculatively done to stay in par with rivals and is likely to be implemented by March this year. Facebook has instant article, a feature which at this stage is not available for all users. This feature enables user to write article and publish it in a story format. LinkedIn also has a similar facility with Pulse where one can publish their creative pieces. The facility though is an encouraging one for the writers and critics who prophesize with their words but Twitteratis are leaving no stone unturned to let Dorsey and his team know that they are totally against it by posting photographs like the ones given below:

    “I am a fan of Twitter because it keeps my top floor busy. Compressing and expressing is the panache of the platform. Now I fear that I might just lose the flare to rambling. People can articulate more in terms of number of characters now but yes the magic is in bits and bytes,” said a senior journalist.

    Millions of tweets have made Twitter 10K trend globally with most of the tweets signifying reservations against the concept. Now it remains to be seen if the flood of tweets make team Twitter change their decision or not.

  • Twitter most popular source for breaking news updates: study

    Twitter most popular source for breaking news updates: study

    MUMBAI: Twitter has changed the way this generation communicates and consumes news. Ever since the world woke up to its awesomeness, it has given rise to a new breed of citizen journalists, albeit sometimes it has been responsible for many fluke death reports and rumour generated news, which couldn’t be verified. 

    While its authenticity may have been questioned, the platform still remains the number one source of breaking news across the world.

    This is as per a recent study done on Twitter by American Press Institute in association with independent research lab, DB5. Although funded by Twitter, the researchers were allowed complete independence — from framing the survey questions to observing the trends to drawing the inferences by API.

    The online survey sampled 4700 social media users and asked them several questions that reveal their usage of social media, specifically Twitter. The study reveals that news consumption is one of the prime usage that majority of the sample users had for Twitter. 

    Twitter users, who tend to be of younger demographic prefer to consume news via Twitter, and 74 per cent of them do so daily, says the report.

    The survey also assessed the number of news breaks that have happened via Twitter, and how thought leaders, journalists and public figures use it as a platform to break news.

    “Three quarters of Twitter news users follow individual journalists, writers and commentators (73 per cent) and nearly two thirds follow institutional accounts (62 per cent). Twitter users also are very likely to discover new journalists and writers and consequently follow their work, often on other platforms beyond Twitter,” says the report.
    This proves as a vital marker for news publishing organisations to use social media more effectively to have a greater impact and reach of their content.

    The report also suggests that most individuals usually scroll through their timeline to get their daily dose of news and 82 per cent of them access the site through mobile application. This is an indicator for news providers to make their content shorter and provide more information in a single post.

    DB5 conducted the survey between 23 November and 15 December, 2014 and tabulated results, which were further analysed by API to produce a written report.

  • &pictures calls the Twitterati

    &pictures calls the Twitterati

    MUMBAI: This June, &pictures, India’s first interactive television movie channel, known to air path-breaking content and bringing viewers closer to their favourite stars, is taking a step further by releasing Aamir Khan’s first unreleased movie on television. The actor known to be a perfectionist in every aspect is all set to showcase his only unreleased film on Sunday, June 8, 2014 at 8:00pm.

    &pictures is a reflection of the subtle evolution of movies and movie viewing experience in India, and its positioning revolves around two keywords- interactivity and engagement. Staying true to its positioning, the channel is engaging with its audiences through Twitter. Fans will get a chance to post tweets using specially created hashtags for the day and interact with Aamir Khan and Karan Johar. &pictures along with Twitter will also set up a ‘Vine Mirror’. The ‘Vine Mirror’ will help take a video with the help of just one push button which will then be uploaded on Vine from time to time while at the studio

    On this occasion Mr. Akash Chawla, ZEEL Marketing Head, National Channels, said, “We at &pictures always look for interesting innovations and integrations in making sure that we fulfil our promise of bringing our viewers closer to their favourite stars. We have invited fans to ask questions via #AAMIRANDYOU which will allow fans to come up close and interact with Aamir Khan and Karan Johar while watching his unreleased film this Sunday. We are extremely excited and look forward to creating a trend with such campaigns like no one else.”

    Collaborating with &pictures, Rishi Jaitly, India Market Director, Twitter said, “Twitter is the second screen of choice for viewers globally as they can interact with their favourite stars in real time and participate in live and public conversation about their favourite TV shows. During this particular broadcast, movie fans can watch with Aamir Khan and Karan Johar by engaging with them in real-time conversation on Twitter and catch a glimpse of behind the scenes on the sets of &pictures through six second Vine videos shared on Twitter and Vine. We are extremely happy to support &pictures in their initiative to get closer to their audience by delighting them with #OnlyOnTwitter moments .”

     

  • India’s first interactive movie channel brings India’s first crowd sourced film!

    India’s first interactive movie channel brings India’s first crowd sourced film!

    MUMBAI: With ‘instant gratification’ being the flavour of this generation, can ‘instant’ movie making be far behind? After causing a buzz in the trade media and agencies with an innovative marketing teaser campaign and a long list of big ticket acquisitions, India’s first interactive movie channel ‘‘&pictures’’ will now venture into previously unexplored territory by going all out to make a movie in just 48 hrs! Impossible you say? Well not if everyone pitches in!

    ‘& pictures’ is all set to create India’s first crowd-sourced film in just a week. From 5th August the channel has invited entries for online users to name the film that they will co-create on the channels micro-site, andpictures.in. Over 7th and 8th August, users can share their storylines and dialogues for the film via Twitter and Facebook. The best ideas will then be aggregated onto the micro-site where users can log in and view how the story is progressing while watching the entries being sent in real time. This unique and one of a kind initiative integrates facebook, twitter and youtube seamlessly.

    Who will have a part in the creation of this movie? While the channel is reaching out to anyone and everyone who has an online account and wishes to contribute to the making of the film, they are particularly reaching out to digital influencers like movie reviewers, Twitterati, film bloggers and Facebook communities of movie aficionados.

    So if you are a movie lover, or think you can write as well as the celebrated script writers of our industry, come join the movement and be a part of India’s first crowd-sourced movie!