Ranjit Sinha’s deeply offensive remark likening legalising betting in India to rape “wins” this weeks bad PR

 14th November 2013    Good and Bad PR 

Bad PR

CBI Director Ranjit Sinha’s deeply offensive remark likening legalising betting in India to rape has landed the country’s top sleuth in trouble.

Here’s the story:

Commenting that betting should be legalized in India, Sinha used an outrageous comparison saying “If you can’t prevent rape, enjoy it.” This has been sharply criticized on Twitter with #Ranjit Sinha and #CBI Director featuring in the top 10 trends on Twitter in India.

Here is a sample of some of tweets:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ranjit Sinha tried the classic – ‘my remarks were taken out of context and this is a campaign against me’ route, but also apologised for his remark.

That the comment came from India’s top police official makes it even more offensive. He seriously needs to learn about gender sensitivity and the art of careful public speak.

Good PR

Idea celebrates 5 million fan base by awarding unique musical IDs!

Telecom company, Idea, has thought up a unique idea that is literally music to our ears. To celebrate its fan base crossing the 5 million mark on Facebook, Idea has come up with a great campaign.

Just key in your mobile number on their app and the app will generate a unique musical ID for you based on each digit of your number having its own distinctive sound.

Check out the page here:

In today’s age of high customisation, one can only say, as the ad puts it, “What an Idea, Sirjee!”

Giant Google display screens at London bus-stops offering tourist information

Now this is a fun campaign. According to Marketing magazine website: "as part of a pilot scheme, called "Google outside", Google has put display screens that provide information on local tourist attractions and businesses, among other things, across 160 locations in London - 100 bus shelters and 60 tube stations."

 

 

 

 

 

 

The website says that: “The screens adapt existing Google Now technology – which is used in smartphones – to provide people with information about their location, taking into account things like the weather. For instance, on a rainy day, the billboards might provide information about a local cinema.”

Great outdoor stunt! Would love to see them do something similar with Delhi Metro.

Sweden kicks off an interesting campaign to mark centenary of Tagore’s Nobel Prize in Literature

The embassy of Sweden in India has made Nobel laureate, Rabindranath Tagore, the centre of the Sweden India Nobel Memorial Week in the country. According to the Times of India, the seventh edition of the week is dedicated to Rabindranath Tagore to mark the centenary of his Nobel Prize in Literature.

Tagore was not only the first Indian to win the Nobel Prize in Literature but also the first non-European to do so. Among the interesting events planned, an exclusive, sit-down Nobel Memorial Dinner, prepared by Nobel Chef Mark Phoenix, replicates the dinner menu from the 1913 Nobel Banquet.

The embassy has also commissioned sand artist, Sudarshan Pattnaik to create a sand sculpture of Tagore on the sands of Puri beach. The figure will be unveiled on November 12, the eve of day that Tagore's prize was announced in 1913.

‘The Delhi Metro Corporation’ is also putting up a 'Nobel Memorial Wall' to commemorate Nobel Laureates from India with a weeklong display at the Rajiv Chowk Metro station.















 

Harald Sandberg, Sweden's Ambassador to India, and Radhe Shyam, GM Metro Railway, Kolkata taking a look at the displays on the Nobel Memorial Wall, on Friday. Photo: Sushanta Patronobish. Taken from 'The Hindu'

Have you seen any great or even bad PR?

Write to Paarul Chand at paarul@prmoment.in or tweet @PaarulC or @PRmomentIndia throughout the week and we’ll happily credit you for your trouble.