Kent RO Systems Ltd, on Wednesday, issued an apology for its controversial advertising campaign that insinuated that maids or domestic helps can be carriers of infectious diseases while promoting its bread and atta maker.
The healthcare product company has reportedly taken down the ad from the company’s social media handles including Instagram after it received severe backlash on Twitter, with multiple users even reporting it to the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI). They called out the company for being insensitive towards the domestic helps and promoting a classist mindset.
Mahesh Gupta, chairman of Kent RO Systems Ltd also took to Twitter to apologies for publishing the Ad which he said was “wrongly communicated”. He confirmed that the Ad has been withdrawn. “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 It was unintentional but wrongly communicated and it has been withdrawn.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”, read the post.
https://twitter.com/KentROSystems/status/1265546510030307329?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwAdvertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) said it has received complaints but since the post is not available, complaints have not been processed.
The Kent Ad which did not go down well with Netizens
The ad, which promoted Kent’s new bread and atta maker, asked consumers, “Are you allowing your maid to knead the atta dough by hand? Her hands might be infected. Don’t compromise on health and purity and buy the Kent Bread and Atta maker.”
The insensitive ad campaign had recieved massive backlash on social media.