Bombay Shaving Company faces backlash over ‘Prachi Nigam friendly’ ad

Delhi: After Prachi Nigam, the UP Board class 10th topper, faced widespread trolling for her facial hair, Bombay Shaving Company ran a front-page newspaper ad in her support on Saturday.

The ad featured the message, "Dear Prachi, They are trolling your hair today, they'll applaud your A.I.R tomorrow." In the bottom right-hand corner, it stated: "We hope you never get bullied into using our razor."

However, the last line of the ad sparked controversy on social media. There were concerns raised about whether Prachi Nigam could legally challenge the company for using her name without permission.

Shantanu Deshpande, the Founder CEO of Bombay Shaving Company, posted the ad on LinkedIn, expressing his dismay at the online abuse directed at a teenage girl simply for her appearance, despite her academic excellence.

In his post, Deshpande highlighted, "Our simple message to this incredible young woman with a promising future. Proud of my team's tact and sincerity. No opportunistic sale, no QR code, just a genuine message to a fellow human," he stated.

Criticism quickly followed, with some users denouncing what they saw as 'low class advertising.' One commenter remarked, "This is what happens when you focus on making self-promoting videos on YouTube, all you end up doing is chasing clicks."

Others branded the ad as 'nonsense' and criticised it for possibly alienating its intended audience. A specific comment noted, "Bombay Shaving Company does a full-page ad for Prachi, the UP board topper, who was trolled for facial hair. This smacks of desperation," and questioned, "This message is aimed at their customers, not her bullies, reminding them to buy our razors while feeling sympathetic? That bottom line is just laughable."

Despite the backlash, some praised the company's initiative, with one user applauding, "Brother Shantanu Deshpande ji, kudos to you and your team for standing by the young girl who was trolled. Thank you."

Nigam herself has remained silent on the advertisement. Previously, she addressed the trolling she experienced by stating, “Trollers can keep their mindset; I am content that my achievements define me now," and noted, “My family, teachers, and friends never criticised my looks, and it never bothered me. It was only when my photo was published after the results that the trolling started, which then caught my attention."

Nigam achieved a remarkable 98.5% in her UP Board Class 10th exams.