The Kashmir Solidarity Day Fiasco

On February 5 each year, “Kashmir Solidarity Day” is celebrated to show Pakistan's support and unity with the people of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir and Kashmiri separatists' efforts to secede from India, and to pay homage to the Kashmiris who have died in the conflict.[1]

This year, the Pakistani branch of the South Korean automobile chaebol, Hyundai Motor Company tweeted, “Let us remember the sacrifices of our Kashmiri brothers and stand in support as they continue to struggle for freedom.” Incensed by the Brand’s lack of sensitivity over India’s position over Kashmir, #BoycottHyundai soon began trending on social media and consumers began canceling their orders of the Brand’s cars. Immediately after this, Hyundai India issued an official statement of apology on its Twitter handle, “We deeply regret any offense caused to the people of India by this unofficial social media activity. We have put in place processes to prevent a future recurrence.” A quick response was issued from the Indian government, suggesting that corporations, particularly the global ones, cannot take India’s national security and diplomatic heft for a ride. Given the common knowledge about India’s stance on Kashmir which has been reiterated multiple times on public platforms, including the United Nations, the same companies, cannot argue for innocence and lack of knowledge thereof.

Unfortunately, Hyundai was not the only company trending on social media (for all the wrong reasons).  #BoycottKFC, #BoycottKIA, and #BoycottPizzaHut were also trending around the same time, for the same reason as the #BoycottHyundai campaign. All such global giants also had to withdraw their posts and issue apologies for hurting the sentiments of Indians.

As we have repeatedly highlighted in our previous articles and blogposts, when advertising in India, a brand needs to focus on not only the law but also the sentiments of the Indian citizens. More often than not lately, brands have been forced to withdraw their campaigns and issue apologies not because such ads were not in compliance with the law, but because they did not sit well with the relatively more sensitive people of India. Thus, due diligence to Indian sentiments is imperative, particularly on the topics related to politics, nudity, sexuality, and religion. Good social media management and branding are warranted from the global as well as national brands for a successful ad campaign.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashmir_Solidarity_Day