There are many reasons why Bombay Shaving Company's new 'moment marketing' strategy was a misstep. The first reason is that capitalising on the trolling Prachi Nigam is facing because of her facial hair isn't an opportunity to sell products. Especially because it eclipses her recent achievement as a board topper in UP, scoring a whopping 98.5 per cent.
And despite the claims made by the company promising otherwise; the underhanded support with the concluding line in the ad, "We hope you never get bullied into using our razor" sends a very mixed message.
It does not address her bullies but again puts her at the centre of the conversation that she did not ask to be a part of. The ad detracts from the larger conversation of bullying.
The ad in its premise read, "Dear Prachi, They are trolling your hair today, they'll applaud your A.I.R tomorrow."
Take a look at the advertisement.
Earlier she was at the receiving end of trolls insisting that she adhere to archaic standards of beauty and now the seeming 'solidarity' from the company has managed to make things worse. Especially with the social media incessantly trying to make most of trend.
An opportunity for 'moment marketing'
People took to social media to clarify the same. One user rightly wrote, "Moment Marketing in the garb of a "message." Can #PrachiNigam ask for a brand endorsement fee for using her name and her struggle in a cleverly designed copy by @BombayShavingCo."
A misplaced sense of context
The ad purports to be in good faith yet again confines her to the stereotypical beauty standards by underlining something that is extremely irrelevant to the context of her achievements as a student. In the end, it's just adding fuel to fire.
One user said, "Can this girl please sue Bombay Shaving for using her name and context without her consent?"
Commercialisation of someone's struggle
The commercialisation of her trolling is the crux of all that is wrong with the ad. The ad itself joins in on the trolling that she received from so many Indians who shared their uncalled-for comments on what grooming looks like.
The fact that the ad completely misunderstood the point and the hypocrisy of their support was not lost on many of the internet users. One user also called their attempt "desperate."
The more insensitive side of marketing was brought to the fore. As one user's response to the post aptly suggested, “Marketing is as cold a business as selling caskets.”
Monopolising someone's struggle, going as far as to exploit it, and then garbing it as "support" snowballs a larger conversation around commodification of very human experiences that have no place in brand building. Especially when the struggles have very real-life consequences.
In the end, the girl in question in a recent interview with BBC stated, “If I had scored just 1-2 marks less, I wouldn’t have gained this social media popularity and wouldn’t have faced such trolling for my appearance.”
“It hurts, but people on social media will say what they want, and there’s no stopping them," she said.
The fact that the unnecessary and heartless trolling she faced overshadowed some of her biggest achievements in life, so much so, that she wished she hadn't topped highlights how much she does not want the mindless conversation to go on. A marketing gimmick certainly does not help the matter.
The decision by the shaving company to profit from a trolling incident, feigning 'solidarity' in a manner seemingly unrelated to their products (razors), while simultaneously mentioning it, underscores, as one commenter aptly put our collective failure.
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