Zomato to re-evaluate creative, marketing processes after row over casteist ad

While issuing an apology, Zomato also defended the “noble intention” behind an advertisement campaign that showed a Dalit character from the film Lagaan being “recycled” and used as inanimate objects

Food-delivery platform Zomato is initiating a “thorough re-evaluation” of its creative and marketing processes. The move comes weeks after the company found itself in the middle of a controversy for an advertisement campaign that showed a Dalit character from the film Lagaan being “recycled” and used as inanimate objects.

The food-delivery giant stated this in a reply sent to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), which had issued a notice to Zomato, Delhi Police and YouTube India (where the advertisement was streamed) after taking cognisance of the issue.

In the reply, the company “deeply apologised” twice, requesting the Commission to withdraw the notice issued, but also defended the “noble intention” with which the advertisement campaign was conceived of, created and released.

The advertisement, released on June 5 (Word Environment Day), in an attempt to show Zomato’s recycling efforts, depicts “Kachra”, the Dalit character from the film Lagaan, being reused as objects such as a table, stool, watering can, etc. The character “Kachra” in the advertisement was played by the same actor who played the character in the feature film. Soon, the company received flak online for this depiction and on June 8 withdrew the video, issuing a public statement for “hurting sentiments”. The NCSC issued the notice on June 12.

In addition to saying that it was re-evaluating its marketing processes, the company in the response dated June 19, said it is also “creating a diverse panel of reviewers to further strengthen internal review mechanism for all marketing videos; and developing a more robust diversity and sensitivity training for all employees of Zomato”.

Zomato said in the response that it was taking these measures “to ensure that all our campaigns go through additional vetting, align with our values, and uphold the highest standards of inclusivity, sensitivity and respect”.

The company is yet to respond to The Hindu’s questions about whether any internal inquiry had unearthed gaps in its creative/marketing processes and what these were.