Nestle withdraws KitKat wrapper with Lord Jagannath's pics after being trolled

Nestle, the Indian subsidiary of the Swiss multinational food giant had to face the wrath of netizens for using the sacred images of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Mata Subhadra, on the wrapper of their popular chocolate brand, Kitkat. This has ostensibly hurt the “religious sentiments” of many people in the country, said social media platform users.

According to them, people would consume the chocolate and discard the wrapper with the lord’s photographs on dirty roads, drains and dustbins and requested the FMCG brand to remove the pictures.

One twitter user had tweeted that though it is an “honour” to see our Odisha culture and Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra on Kitkat, the company should think twice because someone would eat and throw the wrapper into dustbins, drains, gutters and many would walk on it. “Please remove the Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Mata Subhadra photos in your @kitkat chocolate cover,” said the user. Another user offered the same explaination and urged them to please remove the photos.

One user however took on an aggressive tone pointing out that the multinational companies in India seem to have the right to make “mazak” (fun) of Hindu’s religious sentiment. But, if they tried the same thing on some other religion, they would see what would happen, the user mocked the company. While another user asked belligerently, who gave you permission to use Lord Jagannath over Kitkat wrappers?

Also read: Now Sabyasachi’s mangalsutra ad creates furore on social media

Meanwhile, after the severe backlash, Nestle withdrew the wrapper and tweeted in a placatory tone explaining that they customarily “celebrate beautiful local destinations” on their Kitkat travel break packs. And that last year they wanted to celebrate the culture of Odisha with designs on packs representing ‘Pattachitra’, an art form uniquely identifiable by its vivid imagery.

Moreover, they added that they wanted to encourage people to know about India’s art and its artisans. “We do understand the sensitivity of the matter and regret if we have inadvertently hurt people’s sentiments,” the company tweeted in response to the avalanche of hate tweets. Further, the company said that they had withdrawn these packs from the market.

“As pre-emptive action, we had undertaken withdrawal of these packs from the market last year. We thank you for your understanding and support,” said the tweet.

Last year in October, FabIndia’s ‘Jashn-e-Riwaaz’ collection and fashion designer Sabyasachi had to deal with trolling on social media. They lambasted the fashion designer for its ‘Intimate Fine Jewellery’ ads featuring same-sex and heterosexual couples wearing the Royal Bengal Mangalsutra collection. While Fab India was attacked for using Jashn-e-Riwaaz during Diwali season.