‘Moment marketing is usually a monumental disaster…”: ASCI responds to controversial ad on UP Board Class 10 topper

Bombae, a sister brand of Bombay Shaving Company, recently made headlines due to its latest full-page advertisement on the UP Boards Class 10 topper Prachi Nigam, for reportedly trolling her for her appearance and facial hair.

The advertisement has garnered widespread criticism from several known figures on social media, asking the concerned bodies to take the necessary action against Bombay Shaving Company for the ad. Many have even accused the brand of mocking women who have facial hair and capitalising on their insecurities.

Elaborating on the situation, a LinkedIn user commented on the ad by saying, “This Bombae by Bombay Shaving Company campaign was not only insensitive and in bad taste it also spoke poorly of the company’s ill-timed opportunism and desperation to latch on to a students’ predicament. A chap marketing ploy.”

The user has further requested regulatory bodies like The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) to take note of such misdemeanours and pull up brand custodians with structures. 

In response to this backlash, the CEO OF ASCI, Manisha Kapoor has commented, “Asci has taken note, and will progress on this. Moment marketing is usually a monumental disaster if not done well.” Business Today has reached out to ASCI for further comments. 

The advertisement was also shared by the founder and CEO of Bombay Shaving Company, Shantanu Deshpande. The ad read, “Dear Prachi, They are trolling your hair today, they’ll applaud your A.I.R. tomorrow.” It added: “We hope you never get bullied into using our razor.”

Prachi Nigam had initially made headlines for scoring 98.5 percent in the Class 10 board exams.