: When trolls attack: Decoding the brand & ambassador’s role during a Social Media Crisis #IndiaNEWS #Experts Speak With Fortune Oil and its brand ambassador Sourav Ganguly being the latest ones to

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When trolls attack: Decoding the brand & ambassador’s role during a Social Media Crisis #IndiaNEWS #Experts Speak
With Fortune Oil and its brand ambassador Sourav Ganguly being the latest ones to fall prey to a social media crisis, we speak to experts on what should be a brand’s apt action plan to tackle such situations.

Social Media crisis has been the norm of the ad world in the last few months. We witnessed the Tanishq controversy in the year that was and the new year saw Adani Wilmar’s flagship cooking oil brand Fortune Oil getting widely trolled after its brand ambassador Sourav Ganguly suffered a minor cardiac arrest. The trolls mainly targetted the brand, for the ambassador suffered a heart attack after touting the product health. In such unfortunate circumstances- who’s to blame or not to blame What should be the brand’s ideal crisis response plan? We find out.

Does #FortuneOil really safe to eat??Condition of @SGanguly99 heart does not recommended that and cant dare to eat anymore!#AdaniOnline#souravgangulyheartattack pic. twitter. com/8ubqwwNbsl— Sourav Sahana/ ???? ?????? (@Souravert) January 2, 2021

Unfortunately #fortuneoil didn’t give heart immunity to #souravganguly #souravgangulyheartattack. pic. twitter. com/Qu7XFuZRp6— M. S. Vishnu Sankar (@MSVishnuSankar1) January 4, 2021

Following the criticism online, Fortune Rice Bran cooking oil pulled out ads featuring Sourav Ganguly. However, the latest reports suggest that Adani Wilmar will continue to work with the former Indian cricket captain as their brand ambassador and is also likely to embark on reinforcing the oil’s health benefits in its campaign.

But in such a situation, where brands and brand ambassadors deal with many sociopolitical sensitivities, what should be the action plan in case of a backfire?

Social Media Crisis The Right Move

Constant trolling and criticism highlighting the irony of the situation led Fortune Cooking Oil to remove the ads promoted by Ganguly on social media. But is it the right move?

Get Wellsoon #dada n please stop using #fortuneoil which u use to promote for healthy heart n good cholesterol. #sauravganguly pic. twitter. com/JaCg1Yw2O9— dr anil mehndiratta (@DrAMehndiratta) January 3, 2021

“The brand should just stay quiet. There is no need for a pull out of the creative for now,??? opines Harish Bijoor, Brand Guru & Founder, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc. “Its time to show solidarity and support to Saurav in his current condition. Yes, you might want to reduce brand pressure in terms of the exposures planned. This is a dilemma of health and healthy communication for the Adani Wilmar brand.