ASCI flags code violation, Byju's WhiteHat Jr withdraws ads
By MYBRANDBOOK
Byju’s WhiteHat Jr has agreed to withdraw five of its ads after being asked to do so by the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI). The ads, shown on TV and social media, urge young children to take up computer programming classes to secure their future.
Manisha Kapoor, Secretary General, ASCI said “ASCI has processed complaints against seven ads of WhiteHat Jr, five of which were in potential violation of the ASCI code. The advertising monitor said WhiteHat Jr had agreed to withdraw the ads. “The advertiser has also assured us of their cooperation to adhere to the ASCI code going forward.”
The ads were criticised on social media for suggesting that knowledge of coding enables children as young as six and seven to develop apps that will have the investors lining up.
Abhishek Asthana, Founder of ad agency GingerMonkey, tweeted, “Whitehat Jr won’t stop showing you ads until you find a girlfriend, get married, produce kids and get them enrolled in Whitehat Jr”. That generated about 2,000 likes and hundreds of comments from irate social media users.
Another tweet that went viral spoke of evoking FOMO (fear of missing out) among parents. “There’s something deeply cringeworthy about ads that feed FOMO of Indian parents. Kind of upsetting actually,” tweeted Amod Malviya, Cofounder of Udaan, a B2B marketplace, referring to the ads.
Karan Bajaj, Founder and CEO, WhiteHat Jr acknowledged the issue in a LinkedIn post. He said,“Feedback on our marketing needing improvement is well-taken. We’ll do better with it. Coding for kids is about the sheer joy of creation, hence I founded WhiteHat Jr.”
Social media users say such ads put pressure on young children and their parents. Some of WhiteHat Jr’s social media ads featured the names of prominent tech personalities such as Bill Gates, Sundar Pichai and Steve Jobs to promote its coding classes. The ads featuring Gates, Jobs and Pichai have been removed.
BREAKING NEWS
TECHNO TRENDS
Nazara and ONDC set to transform in-game monetization with ‘
Nazara Technologies has teamed up with the Open Network for Digital Comme...
Jio Platforms and NICSI to offer cloud services to government
In a collaborative initiative, the National Informatics Centre Services In...
BSNL awards ₹5,000 Cr Project to RVNL-Led Consortium
A syndicate led by Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (abbreviated as RVNL), along wi...
Pinterest tracks users without consent, alleges complaint
A recent complaint alleges that Pinterest, the popular image-sharing platf...
E-Magazine
TECHNOTAINMENT
Netflix adds 'Moments' feature for saving, sharing scenes from
Netflix has introduced a new “Moments” feature on its mobile app, whic
Jacqueline Fernandez come together with YouTuber Mr. Beast for
Jacqueline Fernandez has partnered with American YouTuber Mr. Beast to b
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Visa elevates Rishi Chhabra as new Country Manager for India
Rishi holds a Master’s in Industrial Engineering from The Ohio State Univ
Genesys welcomes Albert Nel as Senior VP and Regional Sales Le
Genesys continues to deepen its investment in the APAC region. Earlier this
OPEN YOUR EYES
INTERVIEWS
AMD Pensando driving innovation in the DPU architecture space
AMD Pensando stands out in the DPU (Data Processing Unit) market with its u
Acer addresses evolving customer needs by consistently pushing
Acer offers a comprehensive range of products under one roof, including des
HOT PICK
SonicWall Launches TZ80: A Powerful Solution for Remote Office
SonicWall announced today the launch of the TZ80, a groundbreaking securit
Gigabyte X3D Turbo: A Gaming Revolution
GIGABYTE X3D Turbo Mode is a cutting-edge feature that unifies cores distr
MAKE IN INDIA BRANDS
VVDN TECHNOLOGIES
LAVA INTERNATIONAL LTD.
HIMACHAL FUTURISTIC COMMUNICATIONS LTD.
ADITYA INFOTECH LTD.
EMINENT CIO'S OF INDIA
ICONS OF INDIA
Icons Of India : AMIT CHADHA
Amit Chadha serves as the CEO and Managing Director of L&T Technology ...
Icons Of India : B.V.R. Subrahmanyam
A 1987 batch (Chhattisgarh cadre) Indian Administrative Service Office...
ICONS OF INDIA : S KRISHNAN
S Krishnan as the secretary for the electronics and information techno...
PARTNER SPEAKERS
PSU
NIC - National Informatics Centre
NIC serves as the primary IT solutions provider for the government of ...
HPCL - Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd.
HPCL is an integrated oil and gas company involved in refining, market...
RailTel Corporation of India Limited
RailTel is a leading telecommunications infrastructure provider in Ind...
VIDEOS
Top 25 Brands
Global Indian industry
Indian Tech Talent Excelling The Tech World - PADMASREE WARRIOR, Founder, President & CEO - Fable
Padmasree Warrior, the Founder, President, and CEO of Fable, is revolu...
Indian Tech Talent Excelling The Tech World - Shantanu Narayen, CEO- Adobe Systems Incorporated
Shantanu Narayen, CEO of Adobe Systems Incorporated, is renowned for h...
Indian Tech Talent Excelling The Tech World - ARVIND KRISHNA, CEO – IBM
Arvind Krishna, an Indian-American business executive, serves as the C...
STARNITE AWARDS 2024
ITFORUM 2024
CMO of the Year
WOMEN LEADERSHIP
IMAGE GALLERY
TRENDS IN TECHNOLOGY
MORE VIDEOS
ADVERTISEMENTS
TECHNOLOGY DISRUPTION
UNICORNS REVOLUTIONISING
