Parle Products, the maker of Parle-G biscuits, has announced that the company will not be advertising their products on news channels that broadcast toxic, aggressive content. The announcement comes amidst a debate on fake or inflated TRPs by some television news channels– following which advertisers are re-evaluating media spends on the medium.
Following the announcement, netizens took to Twitter to support the brand’s stand at being socially responsible. The Indian Civil Liberties Union on Twitter posted ParleG’s latest decision. “Parle Products has decided not to advertise on news channels that broadcast toxic aggressive content. These channels are not the kinds that the company wants to put money into as it does not favour its target consumer. It’s time more companies join the lead of Bajaj and Parle,” the tweet read. Moreover, celebrities such as Swara Bhasker and Konkona Sen Sharma too voiced their support in favour of the decision taken by the brand calling it apt.
Last week, the Mumbai Police unearthed a false TRP racket where households were asked to keep certain channels switched on the entire day to boost their TRPs. Moreover, the Police also arrested owners of two Marathi channels for manipulating viewership ratings. This brought into the limelight the viewership manipulation leading up to the debate around ‘brand safety.’
Parle, however, is not the only brand who has taken a stand on the subject. Recently, industrialist Rajiv Bajaj too said in an interview with CNBC-TV18 that “our brand would never be associated with anything that we feel is, beyond reasonable doubt, a source of toxicity in our society.” He further stated that the company has blacklisted three channels for advertisements while it continues to disregard toxicity and hate mongering irrespective of the repercussions it may have on the business.
