India
Minutes after the catastrophic news of the Nepal earthquake, social media erupted with tweets and message about the tragedy, but some crossed the line.
Updated : Apr 25, 2015, 09:07 PM IST
A massive earthquake measuring 7.9 magnitude hit Nepal's Kathmandu region on Saturday. Strong tremors were felt in swathes of North India. The tragedy has almost a thousand and many more injured in Nepal. Many buildings have collapsed and various treasured, ancient monuments have crumbled to dust.
Minutes after this catastrophic news, social media erupted with hoards of tweets and message about the tragedy. Like the positive wave we have been witnessing on social media during tragic events, many showed solidarity with the victims, prayed for their well-being and tweeted helpline numbers.
However, the news also brought a very important and often sidelined negative aspect of social media and the opportunistic marketing strategies of several brands. Some brands tried to cash in by offering discounts, advertising and making tasteless, insensitive puns.
Soon after the quake was reported, Lenskart, an online shopping website, sent out an advertising tweet with a message that read “Shake it off like this Earthquake”. The SMS sought to advertise sunglasses with a special discount.
After being called out on its insensitivity by people, the company was forced to apologise for the insensitive message. The website ScoopWhoop also garnered a lot of negative messages for pushing an untimely article taking potshots at earthquake reactions.
boycott Lenskart. insensitive sods. pls RT pic.twitter.com/n8OjKr15Jk
— Swapan Seth (@swapanseth) April 25, 2015
Boycott idiots like @ScoopWhoop & @Lenskart_com for insulting the dead in #NepalEarthQuake pic.twitter.com/5BCqt0BbzT
— Sexist ChopdaSaab (@Keisar_) April 25, 2015
Not just Lenskart, a lot of other brands also advertised in ways that belittled the tragedy.
Some people on social media also tried to garner attention and make mirth with tasteless jokes about the earthquake:
StupidOfToday: @sambitswaraj...making Sanjay Jha look tolerable pic.twitter.com/izwPVEjJGq
— Stupid Of Today (@StupidOfToday) April 25, 2015
Pappu goes to Kedarnath.. Earthquake in Nepal and N. India.. #PappuImpact @ndtv @TimesNow
— MediaCrooks (@mediacrooks) April 25, 2015
Kumar Vishwas thinking: Damn it waste Earthquake. If it happened during our rally, atleast I couldve got some mileage out of it
— Aansutosh (@bwoyblunder) April 25, 2015
Pray for believers in Nepal & India that this tragedy may provide an opportunity to show many the love of Jesus. Turning tragedy to triumph.
— Michael Catt (@MichaelCatt) April 25, 2015
Jahan Modi k kadam padey wahan barbadi.... #Nepal
— shaiLa anchan *BDL* (@anchan_shaila) April 25, 2015
If people had voted for Congress in 2014.. This earthquake would have never happened..
— MediaCrooks (@mediacrooks) April 25, 2015
Everyone was making jokes on the earthquake before they realised the scale of it. Now same people shaming a brand for same thing lol.
— dorku (@Dorkstar) April 25, 2015
These messages and advertising campaigns crafted in poor taste should compel us to question how far one can go to garner social media traction and undue attention. As the death toll from the Nepal earthquake continues to rise, one only hopes that social media returns to perform a more constructive role to tide over disasters.