Ola’s ‘8 missed calls from mom’ clickbait for International Women’s Day, draws universal ire

Using such antics isn’t funny, or smart marketing.

Leading cab hailing app Ola’s push notification on International Women’s Day (March 8) caught the eye of most people, but for all the wrong reasons.

The push notification read, ‘8 missed calls from mom’. It went on to say, “she wanted to tell you that there's 40 per cent off on fruits and veggies at Ola Dash. She also wants you to stop eating bahar ka khana (outside food) so much."

Using the missed call from mom trick to lure people to click and engage with the notification, was panned across social media.

@Olacabs are you trying to give me a heart attack???!!

8 missed calls from mom??!!! pic.twitter.com/R2hV5GLYmX

— M. (@ManishaDot) March 9, 2022

I think I can not take it anymore @Olacabs regarding your mindless creativity, UNECESSARY notifications or say ADs in the name of alerts !! Its simple BS & they are geting on my nerves. The only reason why I am still allowing alerts is WHEN I ACTUALLY USE cab pic.twitter.com/UXazVOoSvH

— anand krishna (@awesum_ak) March 9, 2022

What's with these distasteful and cringeworthy "missed call" campaigns? Ola's screenshot from Kartik Bhatt on LinkedIn; Flipkart's screenshot taken by me. pic.twitter.com/cU9jlc4kUR

— Nikhil | നിഖിൽ (@nikhilnarayanan) March 13, 2022

@bhash
8 missed call from mom stunt as notification! Seriously. Ola should be ashamed for adding anxiety, and you should fire the genius behind this. Very very distasteful. Imagine someone having lost his or her mother. Justify that, please#Ola #saysorry

— Shwetabh (@Shwetab76280830) March 11, 2022

We can’t help but go back to 2020, when leading video streamer SonyLIV’s promotion for its show ‘Undekhi’ involved a phone call to unsuspecting folks. It left them terrified left, right and centre.

What a ridiculous #promotional call trick by #Undekhi #SonyLIV Do U even realise what this can cause to a person if they miss out the last few words in panic. Get a better way to promote your series #webseries #advertisement #ScamAlert #murdercall #unethical #worldpremiereseries pic.twitter.com/8CzUhTkVti

— Suvrata Bhati (@BhatiSuvrata) July 10, 2020

In the call, a guy, in a trembling voice, introduces himself as Rishi and reveals that he's captured a murder on his camera and now the murderer wants to kill him too... And then, a voice says, "Undekhi, streaming now on SonyLIV."

Also Read: Flipkart offers deals on kitchen appliances for Women’s Day; apologises

Coming back to 2022, e-commerce giant Flipkart drew flak because it offered deals to purchase kitchen appliances, and reinforced the stereotype that women’s primary space is in the kitchen. Fortunately, it had the good sense to apologise.

Fast food giant Burger King UK too committed a similar mistake last year (2021), when it tweeted, “Women belong in the kitchen.” It then tried to explain why it made such a statement in a subsequent thread of tweets.