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Water purifier Kent RO‘s new product – Kent atta maker now seems to bite dust due to their recent advertisement of the same, full of biases and suggesting class discrimination which Twitter was quick to backlash. Insensitive towards how the domestic helpers and others under the poverty line have been the hardest hit due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kent’s advertisement asked – “Are you allowing your maid to kneed atta dough by hand?” and offered, “Her hands may be infected.”
Sharing these slides on Instagram, Kent also shared the final slide of the advertisement featuring actor and BPJ MP from Mathura Hema Malini and her daughter Esha Deol, who have been associated with the brand since 2005. The advertisement suggested, “Choose KENT Atta & Bread Maker for hands-free kneeding of dough. Let automation take care of hygiene this time.”
According to The Quint, Sree Jagruti Samiti, an organisation which works for the rights of domestic workers, has called for a boycott of Kent products and head of the organisation, Geeta Menon, stated, “Shamelessly endorsed by Hema Malini and Brahmanical purity!!! The Advertising council must force and punish the company, for the putrefying ad …on how Kent products to be bought, to save oneself from the unhygienic domestic workers’ hands! Call upon all human beings to boycott Kent products, withdrawal of ad immediately. In these times of vulnerability and safety of all, discrimination, prejudice, caste and communal are in the DNA of some of the privileged classes and companies We see it from homes, to relief work, to factories, to schools, to even hotels. Our union survey conversations reveal that the impact of COVID-19 has been tremendous! 80% of domestic workers told not to come, effectively keeping them out of work, out of reach for two months! 70% not paid April salaries, 50% of those above 50 years dismissed arbitrarily!!! Many employers have cited hygiene, bringing the virus, etc (sic).”
Drawing an instant flak from netizens for its discriminatory implications, the Twitter users too outraged against the brand. While one user wrote, “After ‘Kent ka shuddh pani’, here comes Kent’s ‘shuddh atta’. And its ‘shuddhta’ or purity is a slur on humanity. Time has come to #BoycottKent (sic)”, another tweeted, “Look at this classist #Kent Atta Maker Ad @dreamgirlhema ji – This is in ‘poorer’ taste than the ‘poor maid’ who you are snubbing (sic)” and yet another lashed, “I presume #Kent Atta maker doesn’t want my business. Not only is it unfair to service demographics by assuming all are unhygienic, also assumes me or my husband do not knead atta. A great product bites the dust cos the Ad agency/Product Manager couldn’t see beyond their biases (sic)”
Check out Twitter’s reaction on the advertisement here:
After ‘Kent ka shuddh pani’, here comes Kent’s ‘shuddh atta’. And its ‘shuddhta’ or purity is a slur on humanity. Time has come to #BoycottKent. https://t.co/NEUz3iNlzx
— Dipankar (@Dipankar_cpiml) May 27, 2020
Look at this classist #Kent Atta Maker Ad@dreamgirlhema ji – This is in ‘poorer’ taste than the ‘poor maid’ who you are snubbing pic.twitter.com/pwRtV43mUC
— Arnaz Hathiram (@ArnazHathiram) May 26, 2020
I presume #Kent Atta maker doesn’t want my business. Not only is it unfair to service demographics by assuming all are unhygienic, also assumes me or my husband do not knead atta. A great product bites the dust cos the Ad agency/Product Manager couldn’t see beyond their biases. https://t.co/lVCmjNG5Qp
— Avtar Dr Saundarya Rajesh (@SaundaryaR) May 27, 2020
Such evil opportunities advertisement by KENT is most condemnable….this company wants all maids to be jobless…it just wants to sell the dough maker in these tough times https://t.co/HMJEF26NEE
— Career and Admission News India (@AdmissionNews21) May 28, 2020
What stopped Kent from replacing ‘your maid’ with “yourself” and ‘Her hands’ with “Your hands”?
I sense a deliberate attempt to create controversy by Kent for wider reach, because products like Atta Maker don’t get well advertised/noticed. It is primarily a Water Purifier brand. https://t.co/jtMrv12xxU
— Godot (@OddieBirdie) May 26, 2020
I am not OK to buying this contraption even if Hema Malini comes daily to knead my atta with Kent
I would want my Woman Friday to do it with her expertise https://t.co/fC6zdHFXJH
— 🇮🇳 Anindita (@hatefreeworldX) May 27, 2020
#Covid infection has exposed ugly faces of many greedy companies also. Worst adv by @KentROSystems questioning purity of women’s hands. @RenuWBhatia1 @sharmarekha @smritiirani pic.twitter.com/Z9YjJd5hQv
— prabhu razdan (@prabhurazdan) May 27, 2020
What an impactful call-to-action, maid’s hands could be infected, so the best thing to do is to buy Kent atta maker!
Why didn’t anyone else think of this earlier?
Who writes this kind of copy? https://t.co/8cnWXJLjHW
— Shilpa Godbole (@godbole_shilpa) May 26, 2020
even if you use the Shitty Kent gadget;the domestic help still needs get the atta out of the machine or does it fly out with divine intervention from @dreamgirlhema and bakes into soft chapati all by itself
— Chetan Hegde (@Unikchetan) May 26, 2020
This has to be one of THE MOST insensitive and classist pieces of advertising I have seen.
Amazed that brands get away with so much BS #KentAtta #AdvertisingFails pic.twitter.com/ryh6i6lNpz
— Mukta Matta (@alltalk) May 27, 2020
Quick to pull it down, Kent soon issued an apology. They tweeted, “Please accept our sincere apologies for having published the Ad of Kent Atta & Bread Maker. It was unintentional but wrongly communicated and it has been withdrawn. We support and respect all sections of the society. Mahesh Gupta, Chairman” sic.
Please accept our sincere apologies for having published the Ad of Kent Atta & Bread Maker. It was unintentional but wrongly communicated and it has been withdrawn. We support and respect all sections of the society.
Mahesh Gupta, Chairman
— Kent RO (@KentROSystems) May 27, 2020
At the heels of the same, Hema Malini and Esha Deol dissociated themselves from the advertisement and issued a public statement on Twitter that read, “Views expressed by the recent advertisement of Kent Atta by @KentROSystems do not resonate with my values and are inappropriate, The Chairman has already tendered a public apology for the mistake.I hereby wish to put on record that I respect and stand by all sections of society.” sic
Views expressed by the recent advertisement of Kent Atta by @KentROSystems do not resonate with my values and are inappropriate, The Chairman has already tendered a public apology for the mistake.I hereby wish to put on record that I respect and stand by all sections of society. pic.twitter.com/i6tY3hJdt8
— Hema Malini (@dreamgirlhema) May 27, 2020
Views expressed by the recent advertisement of Kent Atta by @KentROSystems do not resonate with my values and are inappropriate, The Chairman has already tendered a public apology for the mistake.I hereby wish to put on record that I respect and stand by all sections of society. pic.twitter.com/l9eqxgcJK2
— Esha Deol (@Esha_Deol) May 27, 2020
Even the Imarti Immersive Marketing, the digital agency behind a majority of Kent RO’s messaging, wiped its hands from having any participation in the notorious advertisement.
Imarti Media, KENT RO’s Official Digital Agency, Did Not Engineer Kent Atta Maker Ad pic.twitter.com/uRa93uDoC8
— Imarti Immersive Marketing (@imartimarketing) May 27, 2020
We are living in the 21st century yet insensitive promotions like these only show that we are still living in the dark ages and that the virus in not outside but in our hearts and brains!
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