Yes Madam: India start-up’s mass ‘firing’ sparks debate on viral marketing

Some users also pointed out that the campaign had succeeded in propelling an almost unheard of brand into the limelight in a matter of hours.

“Free promotion done right, huh? Who needs a marketing budget when you have outrage as your social media manager?” one user posted on LinkedIn.

This isn’t the first time that a start-up has courted controversy for indulging in a questionable publicity campaign.

Last month, the founder of an Indian food delivery platform received bouquets and brickbats after he posted a job opening for the position of “chief of staff” but said that the candidate would not be paid for a year and would instead have to donate two million rupees to the company’s non-profit venture that aims to provide food to the poor.

He later claimed that more than 10,000 people had applied for the job but didn’t mention if anyone had actually been hired for the post.

In February, a celebrity faced massive backlash online after she feigned her death to draw attention to cervical cancer. Many users said that the publicity stunt was deeply traumatising to those who had actually lost friends and family to the illness.

The marketing agency responsible for the campaign later apologised, but these controversies haven’t stopped brands from pushing the limits of advertising to bizarre levels.

Brand experts say that while such marketing gimmicks might help a brand shoot into the limelight, it does not necessarily boost the longevity or success of the company.

On the contrary, it might do it more harm than good.

Brands need to understand the difference between exaggeration and telling a blatant lie, says Karthik Srinivasan, a branding and communications consultant.

“Exaggeration is an accepted and successful advertising strategy, where a brand uses creative licence to push the limits of the truth to make a point,” he says. “But the exaggeration is so obvious or conspicuous that a consumer isn’t likely or expected to believe it,” he adds.

He gives the example of the Axe deodorant ads, which would often show a scrawny-looking man transforming into a magnet for women as soon as he sprays himself with the deodorant.

Then there was rapper Snoop Dogg, who made headlines last year for announcing that he would be “giving up smoke”, external, only to reveal that he was actually talking about using a smokeless fire pit of a particular brand.