The Internet can make or break images and reputations faster than anything else in today's time of digital media. One such incident has come to notice where online users are criticising popular 'health drink' Cadbury's Borunvita for allegedly sending a legal notice to an influencer. Why? Well, the social media user had posted a video highlighting different contents that the brand has mentioned on the packet of Bournvita and showed how it contains a 'heavy' amount of sugar.
Revant Himatsingka posted the video on April 1 from the social media handle of 'Food Pharmer' on Instagram. In the minute-long video, he criticised the brand for 'miscommunicating' on its package about the product's 'nutritional value'.
In the captions within the video, he said, "Should the government allow companies to blatantly lie on their package? Parents are getting their children addicted to sugar at a young age, and the children end up craving sugar throughout their lives." He also took a dig at the brand's tagline 'Taiyari jeet ki', and said it should instead be 'Taiyari diabetes ki'.
As per reports, the now-deleted reel had 12 million views on his Instagram page alone. The video was then widely shared on Twitter, and LinkedIn and got the support of users across these platforms.
Even former cricketer and MP Kirti Azad posted the video on Twitter expressing his intention of taking legal action against Cadbury.
However, following the massive outrage, Bournvita issued a statement on April 9. It said that the product is "a scientifically designed formula made with ingredients that are approved for use, and all our ingredients are declared on the pack".
"Bournvita has enjoyed the love and trust of Indian consumers for more than seven decades. Bournvita contains nutrients namely Vitamin A, C, D, Iron, Zinc, Copper and Selenium which help build immunity,” the statement read.
It added, "Every serve of Bournvita has 7.5 grams of added sugar, which is approximately one-and-a-half teaspoons. This is much less than the daily recommended intake limits of sugar for children."
Influencer Deletes Video
While the debate was raging on social media, the influencer on Friday deleted the video from his timeline and issued a statement.
He said, "I have decided to take down the (Bournvita) video after receiving a legal notice from one of India’s biggest law firms on 13 April. I apologise to Cadbury for making the video. I did not plan or intend to infringe any trademark or defame any company nor do I have the interest or resources to participate in any court cases and I request MNCs to not take this forward legally."
This intensified the social media attack on the brand with people slamming Cadbury for 'suing' the influencer, though he has not named Cadbury sending him legal notice in his post. Some users even claimed that after this incident, Himatsingka's Twitter account got hacked, he lost his followers and now the account is permanently suspended.