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.
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:
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.
