There is this running joke amongst people that one of the worst fears desi kids have is picking up their phones and seeing there are 5 missed calls from their moms. However, when Ola decided to use this fear as a marketing gimmick and send a misleading notification to its customers, people were not having it.
So, here’s what happened. In a bid to urge customers to use Ola Dash, the brand’s grocery delivery service, they sent a notification to its users reading, “8 missed calls from mom,” followed by a 40% discount announcement on their services.
People online slammed Ola for such an insensitive marketing tactic. Why ‘insensitive’? Because there are people who have lost their mothers or have ailing parents living in a different city for whom getting a notification like this can be alarming.
‘8 missed calls from mom’, followed by a 40% off promo!
This is a terrible clickbait by Ola.
Pic via @kartik679 on LinkedIn. pic.twitter.com/QBzIF86510— Karthik 🇮🇳 (@beastoftraal) March 10, 2022
8 missed calls from your mom📞
Why is @Olacabs traumatizing me like this? pic.twitter.com/YrL0pTAllw
— Anangsha Alammyan🌈 (@anangsha_) March 9, 2022
@Olacabs are you trying to give me a heart attack???!!
8 missed calls from mom??!!! pic.twitter.com/R2hV5GLYmX
— M. (@ManishaDot) March 9, 2022
Kartik Bhatt, Chief Operating Officer of Sharaf Retail, took to LinkedIn to call out the brand for its unethical advertising.
“Imagine the impact of such an advert on people like me who recently lost their mothers/ or people who live away from their ailing mothers …. The advert is a clickbait tactic – but strikes a poor chord and leaves a very bitter aftertaste,” he wrote.
Many professionals took to the comment section to share their disappointment. Here’s what some said:
Seriously, some brands truly need to do better.