Ola’s ‘8 Missed Calls from Mom’ marketing gimmick infuriates Twitter; ‘terrible clickbait’

Companies use various means to promote their products and services. And in the age of social media and clickbaits, promotions have taken on a whole new level. On Wednesday, Ola, one of India’s successful startups, promoted one of its services, which enraged its customers.

In a move that was widely criticized on social media, taxi aggregator company Ola shared a notification saying ‘8 missed calls from mum’ with several of their customers to offer a 40% discount on certain services. . However, the marketing gimmick used by the company to promote its service has not been well received. While a single missed call from his mother can cause worry, Ola’s message caused anxiety until customers realized it was just a marketing tactic to get a 40% discount on specific services.

Ola’s marketing stunt draws Twitter’s ire

People shared screenshots on their social media accounts and called this gadget annoying. One of the Twitter users shared the screenshot and captioned it: “Olacabs why are you trying to give me a heart attack???!! 8 missed calls from mom??!! !”

Another user called this style of marketing “terrible clickbait”.

Ola’s marketing experience, according to many others on the microblogging platform, only caused concern.

Some users on other social media platforms have also reacted to Ola’s objectionable marketing. One of the LinkedIn users, Kartik Bhatia, COO of Sharaf Retail, criticized the company’s marketing stunt and said, “A banner notification with 5-20 missed calls from MOM would flash on mobile – causing panic – followed by a silly 40% off their services Imagine the impact of such publicity on people like me who have recently lost their mother / or people who live far away from their sick mother ….Advertising is a clickbait tactic – but strikes a bad chord and leaves a very bitter aftertaste.”

Ola’s anxiety-inducing notification was also shared on Reddit, where it received more than 24,000 “upvotes”. Many people urged Ola to be more sensitive in future ad campaigns in the comments section. One of the Reddit users said, “Imagine sending this notification to someone whose mother recently passed away or is missing. Terrible company.” While another said: “It’s very upsetting.”

Ola’s marketing gaffe comes just a day after e-commerce giant Flipkart was reprimanded for its Women’s Day campaign. Flipkart posted a post on International Women’s Day promoting kitchen appliances, which many social media outlets condemned as sexist.