Off The Cuff

8 missed calls from mom? Ola’s marketing stunt attracts Twitter

March 10, 2022
Sezarr

Ola’s marketing stunt was heavily criticized on social media.

Nothing could have prepared Ola’s customers for the dreaded notification they received on their mobile phones yesterday. The cab aggregator company – in a move that has been widely criticized on social media – decided to share a notification that read “8 missed calls from mom” with several of its customers. Needless to say, clickbait doesn’t go down well. While one missed call from one’s mother is enough to cause concern, Ola’s notification scared people until they realized that it was nothing more than a marketing ploy promoting 40 percent discount on certain services. Not there.

A Twitter user shared a screenshot of the notification and wrote, “‘8 missed calls from mom’, followed by 40% off promo! This is an awesome clickbait from Ola.”

Many others on the microblogging platform agreed that Ola’s marketing stunt caused nothing but concern.

“Why is Ola bothering me like this?” A user asked.

“Ola, are you trying to give me a heart attack?” Another wrote.

Reactions were similar on LinkedIn too, where Sharaf Retail’s chief operating officer Kartik Bhatt described the marketing stunt as distasteful. “Imagine the effect of an ad like this on people like me who have recently lost their mother or people who live away from their ailing mother. The ad is a click bait tactic — but strikes a bad chord. and leaves a very bitter taste,” said Mr. Bhatt wrote.

A screengrab of Ola’s anxiety-inducing notification also arrived reddit, where it has garnered over 24,000 ‘upvotes’. In the comments section, many asked Ola to show more sensitivity in future ad campaigns.

“Imagine sending this information to someone whose mother recently died or went missing. Terrible company,” wrote one Reddit user. “It’s very disturbing,” said another.

Ola’s marketing misfire comes a day after e-commerce company Flipkart landed in hot water For their Women’s Day campaign. On International Women’s Day, Flipkart sent out a message promoting kitchen appliances, which many on social media slammed as sexist.

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