Bombay Shaving Company and its founder-CEO Shantanu Deshpande have been slammed on social media for their full-page ad on UP state board topper Prachi Nigam.
The teenage girl first made headlines for scoring 98.5 percent in the Class 10 exams, and was then unfairly targeted by trolls for her appearance and facial hair. However, some netizens also came forward to defend her and celebrate her brilliant academic achievements.
Amid the ongoing outrage on social media, Bombay Shaving Company came under fire for apparent “insensitivity”. Shantanu Deshpande, founder and CEO of the grooming brand, shared a picture of the newspaper ad that read, “Dear Prachi, They are trolling your hair today, they’ll applaud your A.I.R. tomorrow.” Sharing the picture, Deshpande wrote, “It was shocking to see the amount of hate targeted at a teenage girl who had TOPPED AN EXAM because of her facial hair. Our simple message to this amazing young woman with such a bright future. Love to see my team ooze class. No opportunistic sale, QR code, nothing. Just a heartfelt message to a fellow Bae.”
However, Deshpande’s post backfired with users slamming him for ‘shameless” and “opportunistic” marketing, asserting that it was in very bad taste.
Absolutely inexplicable Ad in awful taste.
A poor girl is going through such a tough situation in her life, but Bombay Shaving Company will not leave her alone, trying to take mileage by selling their Razors, founder Shantanu posting this Ad on LinkedIn and praising their… pic.twitter.com/VKTBb0eqqs— Shajan Samuel (@IamShajanSamuel) April 27, 2024
The Team at Bombay Shaving Company actually thought it is a brilliant Ad Campaign. And they thought the line – We hope you never get bullied into using our razor – is a classic touch, without any sales push, to demonstrate whatever they thought it demonstrates about them pic.twitter.com/o5aKGqcEC5
— Joy (@Joydas) April 27, 2024
What a way to do sales.
The Bombay Shaving company using an unfortunate incident to get attention.
I am sure they didnt asked the victim as well.
Shameful pic.twitter.com/eq6WX7NNRB
— SK ( मोदी का परिवार) ???????? (@IndiaBottomline) April 27, 2024
Bombay Shaving Company’s front-page ad supporting Prachi, who faced social media trolling, ends with “we hope you never get bullied into using our razor.” Seriously? How low and insensitive can a company stoop for advertising? ???? pic.twitter.com/m9cYGBky6l
— Meru (@MeruBhaiya) April 27, 2024
Bombay Shaving Company does a full page ad for Prachi, The UP board topper, who was being trolled for facial hair.
Haven’t seen something this desperate.
This message goes to their own TG, not to the people who bullied her, hey pls remember to buy our razors while you shed a… pic.twitter.com/YWBDwgd6LU
— Gabbar (@GabbbarSingh) April 27, 2024
Dear Bombay Shaving Company,
Using a child’s trauma for moment marketing is a horrible move that doesn’t deserve applause.
I hope you get bullied into taking down the ad and apologizing to the girl for this insensitive copy. pic.twitter.com/GGRLvI6MmI
— Deepansh Duggal (@Deepansh75) April 27, 2024
