Note: This article was published on Women’s Web on 3rd February, 2024
Yesterday we were hit with the news of the untimely passing away of 32-year-old Model, TV star and Influencer Poonam Pandey. While there were people who were skeptical over this information and sensed something fishy based on her visible health during her recent public appearances, some reserved judgement and were willing to give her the benefit of doubt. I was in the latter category, because I felt that maybe, just maybe, it’s not gotten so bad as to people faking death for the purpose of marketing.
So I got proven wrong today. Poonam Pandey is very much alive, kicking and rocking, leaving me seething honestly. Don’t get me wrong – it’s absolutely heartening to know that she is fine. But what bothers me is the exploitative use of faux demise to promote awareness about a significant health concern like cervical cancer. Here is the reel that she released.
Death can never be a part of a gimmick!
I despise even the ‘just for fun’ pranks done by people with their friends faking death/serious health conditions.
Death is a serious matter, and to manipulate it as a marketing strategy is an affront to the emotions and grieving processes of those who have experienced real loss. It undermines the gravity of death and erodes the trust between the public and those seeking to raise awareness. This tasteless, deeply disrespectful and ridiculous campaign supposedly designed using the ‘shock’ principle of marketing, totally fails to engage the public in any meaningful dialogue about the cause, and also risks desensitizing the public to genuine causes.
Poonam Pandey trivialized the pain and grief so many people actually go through
Poonam Pandey made a mockery of the cause she was apparently trying to support and trivialized the very real pain and grief that several individuals endure.
Most of us may have friends, family members or colleagues who have experienced the crushing reality of terminal illnesses. It takes a toll on the person battling the terror as well as the caregivers. When I saw her reel, I immediately thought about how they must have felt about this. It might have been so triggering to witness the extremely casual, gimmicky approach to a life-altering disease that tests the strength, patience and resilience of everyone involved.
Influencers and advertisers – please mind what you say!
The shock value of a campaign should never come at the expense of genuine emotions or ethical considerations. It’s not even well-intended as it’s pretty evident the purpose here was sensationalism and not attention, education or awareness.
What Poonam Pandey has done is undoubtedly highly problematic, but in the larger scheme of things, I hope this episode serves as a wakeup call and somewhere nudges all influencers, marketing firms, agencies and strategists to relook at the aspects of mindfulness, sensitivity, responsibility and accountability in marketing/PR. We are definitely losing balance in the pursuit of attention and numbers.