Piyush Bhasarkar
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Smartphone retailers are taking a stand against a recent advertisement by Flipkart featuring Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan, which they claim is misleading customers into thinking that online platforms offer superior deals during the festive season, as reported by The Economic Times (ET).
In am advertisement promoting ‘The Big Billion Days’ on Flipkart, Amitabh Bachchan is heard stating that the mobile deals offered by Flipkart cannot be found in retail stores.
In response to this advertisement, the All India Mobile Retailers Association (AIMRA), representing 150,000 mobile retailers, has reached out to prominent smartphone brands to address the issue. They have urged the heads of these brands to issue public statements in leading news media outlets, either jointly or individually, to clarify that the claims made in the Flipkart advertisement are not accurate.
AIMRA expressed its concerns in a letter to smartphone brands, stating, “Our purpose in addressing you is to express our deep concern and disappointment regarding the recent wave of derogatory advertisements that have been proliferating across various online platforms, social media, and print media. These advertisements have been influencing the buying behavior of customers through false and misleading statements, such as the one promoted by Flipkart with the endorsement of the mega star, Mr. Amitabh Bachchan, stating, ‘yeh Dukan per nahin milne wala’ (This will not be found in stores).”
Earlier, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) had also written to Amitabh Bachchan, expressing their concerns about his recent ad for Flipkart, which they believe spreads misinformation and negatively impacts local businesses.
CAIT’s letter to the actor stated, “We are highly disheartened to witness your recent advertisement for Flipkart, where you claimed that deals and offers are not available at shopkeepers, thereby misguiding and influencing the consumers, which we strongly condemn and seek an explanation as to on what grounds you said such words in the advertisement in question.”
The letter went on to request that Bachchan refrain from making biased or misleading statements in advertising that might steer customers toward online platforms for monetary gain.
In response to the controversy, Flipkart has made the ad private on YouTube.
The Big Billion Days sale on Flipkart is scheduled to commence on October 8 and run until October 15. As festival sales have become a major battleground for e-commerce platforms, Amazon also moved the date of its Great Indian Festival sale to October 8 from its original date of October 10. The competition in this space is fierce, with both companies vying for the attention of consumers during the festive season.
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