PR stunts are getting more and more tasteless with each passing day. Be it Poonam Pandey’s so-called ‘death’, or Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal’s promise of a job in exchange for Rs 20 lakh, PR strategies to “shock first, make amends later” are now getting a bit out of control.
On Monday, Noida-based beauty services startup YesMadam took the Internet by storm when one of its employees posted a now-revealed-to-be-fake termination letter that claimed it has let go of employees who admitted to dealing with mental pressure in an internal survey.
The post went viral on LinkedIn, inviting comments from netizens bashing the startup for its rather strange way of dealing with layoffs. This morning, the startup has come up with a lame apology letter where it claims that the social media posts were “a planned effort to highlight the serious issue of workplace stress".
"To those who share angry comments or voiced strong opinions, we say Thank you. When people speak up it shows they care - and care is at the heart of our business,” the letter claimed.
The post clarified that none of the employees were fired, instead “were given a break to reset”, “offered a chance to relax”, “urged to rest and recharge”, and “were encouraged to release their stress.”
Whoever the PR genius is behind this stunt, I hope you realise that you could have garnered enough praise if you had announced the same without taking a tawdry, nay vulgar, approach.
Workplace Stress Doesn’t Qualify For A PR Stunt
Yes, workplace stress is indeed VERY real. Only recently, the Emotional Wellness State of Employees Report from wellness platform YourDOST showed that a whopping 64 per cent of employees (aged 21 to 30) are dealing with high stress levels.
Moreover, ever since the Covid bubble burst, thousands of employees across the globe have been let go from their offices since companies are unable to deal with the costs. So much so that “layoffs” have been a major buzzword in news headlines in 2023 and 2024, and given the rising inflation, might continue to be seen in 2025 as well.
So, YesMadam, it’s great that you take workplace stress seriously. It’s great that you have a de-stress leave policy or a ‘Happy 2 Heal’ corporate programme in place. However, to announce the same, you had to go through an elaborate stunt with “layoffs” as a centrepiece. All for some extra eyeballs?
Perhaps, this comment from LinkedIn profile Desi Founder explains how the Internet is taking the news: “Whoever approved this stupid PR stunt should probably fire themselves.”
PRs Need A Reality Check
Earlier this year, digital marketing firm Schbang faked the death of actress Poonam Pandey — all to raise awareness on something as serious as cervical cancer. Of course, they apologised later. But if we accept that, it pretty much means you can get away with anything by saying “Sorry”.
Even Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal broke the Internet a few months back when he said that whoever pays the company a “fee” of Rs 20 lakh will be eligible for an interview for the role of a Chief of Staff (who would apparently work for no salary in their first year).
Goyal later clarified that “Charging people Rs 20 lakh was never part of the plan”, and that Zomato would reject applicants who would even discuss the fee.
Dear Mr Goyal, is it not enough that you make us pay Rs 10 extra on every delivery order, which you claimed was a “festive period” deal but never remembered to roll back once the so-called festive season was over? Did you seriously need to troll all your followers and fans needlessly just to make sure you made it to the headlines? I’d imagine an appearance on Kapil Sharma’s show on Netflix would have been enough spotlight for some time.
Perhaps I was wrong.
That’s the thing with these PR stunts. Companies and celebrities, in order to go ‘viral’, opt for classless tactics that leave a bad taste in the mouth.
As for me, personally, I would no longer consider Poonam Pandey’s so-called messages of awareness upliftment (not like I ever did). Zomato job postings will now be taken with a heavy pinch of salt (and an exorbitant ‘platform fee’). And of course, I can’t be bothered about YesMadam any more.
Consider this to be a “No Madam” from me.
PS: In FY 2023-24, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) examined 10,093 complaints and investigated 8,299 advertisements. It found that 81 per cent of violations were on account of misleading claims. Of course, social media posts very cleverly avoid the grounds of advertising. But should they be held responsible? Given the obnoxious state of PR stunts nowadays, perhaps they should.
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