Mondelez may have won the battle with influencer Revant Himatsinghka or Food Pharmer, but has definitely lost the war. After Mondelez filed a case against him, Himatsinghka apologised and took down his Instagram reel which had called out the company for advertising what he claimed were dubious health benefits of Bournvita. But that was only after the reel was seen by 12 million viewers. The subsequent legal threat only ensured that the reel became the talk of the town, engineering a sort of sympathy wave for the David in this battle with the Goliath. The take-down of the video made little difference anyway as it had already been forwarded by thousands, leading to a raging debate both in the online and offline world on whether the powdered drinks we give to our children are really healthy or they are just sugar supplements masquerading as health drinks. Social media comments, even from renowned nutritionists, indicate that the perception game is going against the brand.
This is not to say that Himatsinghka deserves all this sympathy. He did make disparaging comments about Bournvita without any evidence. The influencer had claimed in his video that the health drink has high quantities of sugar and cocoa solids coupled with a cancer-causing colorant, and that the brand should change Bournvita’s tagline from ‘taiyyari jeet ki’ (preparation for victory) to ‘taiyyari diabetes ki’ (preparation for diabetes). These are irresponsible allegations as just being an influencer on social media does not make Himatsinghka qualified enough to make such claims, in the absence of any documents to back up his charges.
Where Mondelez went wrong was to allow the matter get out of hand. It should have learnt the lessons from some of its multinational peers which faced similar situations in the past and dealt with it with the usual arrogance of a corporate giant. They underestimated the situation and did nothing about it till it reached a point of no-return. Cola companies, past offenders in the art of selling their sugared soda as not altogether unhealthy drinks, only owned up to the massive levels of sugar they were feeding eager drinkers when the evidence against them became too overwhelming to deny.
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Nestle did nothing for almost two months after a lab in Uttar Pradesh found “harmful” ingredients in Maggi. The company’s initial silence gave the impression that it probably couldn’t care less. By the time it woke up to the challenge, Nestle suffered a huge financial loss and erosion of brand value. But when it did start communicating on the right platforms, Maggi recovered its old popularity.
So, instead of shooting off a legal notice, Mondelez should have engaged with the influencer, asking him to provide scientific evidence to back up his claim and posted the exchange of information on its social media vehicles. It should have subsequently offered a voluntary third-party examination of the claims that Bournvita makes on its package. That would have earned it tonnes of goodwill and reinforced the impression that the brand isn’t interested in silencing critics, however unfair they are. But by taking the conventional route, Mondelez has certainly messed up things. In this interconnected world, voices will be raised against companies, but they can’t be silenced by bullying. After all, being humble is a good quality to nurture even in corporate behemoths.