Mumbai-based digital agency BC Web Wise had launched an initiative, probably opposing the Delhi Gang Rape incident, where it shows people what all they can do in Delhi. The initiative was called ThingsToDoInDelhi.com and though it intended to launch an online protest against the Delhi Gang Rape case, it failed miserably, resulting in a widespread fury among Twitteratti against the agency. Facing the fury, the agency has pulled the website down.
The landing page of the website said the dreaded word in bold black letters (see pic). That’s not all. The site went on to say things like ‘Don’t be a Woman’, ‘Get Home before dark’, ‘Rape, anytime, anywhere’ etc. There were tweets from people saying that it was a bad show of satire from the agency and they shouldn’t have made fun of the entire city and its people. Some even went further to say that the agency should shut down the website and close the campaign. Comments were also made to report the site to the Mumbai Crime Division.
The agency, BC Web Wise, through its Twitter Handle, however, rested its case by saying that instead of attacking work that is meant to convey the sorry state of affairs, people should focus on the issue if they can. Eventually they took the website down.
@probablytrippy instead of attacking work that is meant to convey the sorry state of affairs.. focus on the issue if u can
— BC Web Wise (@bcwebwise) December 20, 2012
Nikhil Pahwa, Editor and Publisher of Medianama, tweeted his conversation with BC Web Wise CEO Chhaya Balachandran Aiyer, which read Aiyer saying, "To us Delhi is a city that represents our country to the world. This site was put up 2 years back and was our sign of protest. However we can see that there is a divide in the number of people who are getting our style of protest and those who are outraged and have therefore without further ado have disabled this URL.”
so response frm @bcwebwise's ceo to a mail I sent her: "To us Delhi is a city that represents our country to the world. This site was +
— Nikhil Pahwa (@nixxin) December 20, 2012
India Digital Review spoke to some social media experts to understand what all went wrong there and whether the agency was right to pull the website down.
Deepak Goel, Founder and CEO, Drizzlin, a social media agency, said, “BC Web Wise should have stood up to the mistake they have done and probably could have tweaked the page and changed the message. Running away can never be a solution to a problem.”
Goel further added that if the agency would have changed the message, then their intention, which was actually meant to oppose the ongoing crisis in Delhi, would not have been questioned. “People would have understood that they made a mistake and they are accepting that. But after what they have done now, people can very well question their intentions behind creating the site altogether,” added Goel.
Pradeep Chopra, CEO and Co-founder, Digital Vidya, said, “When someone is hurt, s/he expects a.) to be heard and b.) person/source (who has hurt him/her) to take responsibility. Shutting the site and absence of any other relevant formal communication from BC Web Wise is communicating more of defense than responsibility. They should have updated the site with their response to deal with the situation.”
Chopra however added that one should not use this incident to conclude that this communication from BC Web Wise is a representation of the entire team and all the work done at BC Web Wise and similarly for any other future incident by someone else.
Narendra Nag, Co-Lead, MSLGROUP India Social, was of the opinion that as a two-three year old website, events overtook an old attempt at satire. “If you look here, you'll find that the site looked exactly the same in February 2011. But one CANNOT delete/take back what's said. All they can do, is add context and nuance as circumstances change. For instance, in this case, they could have put up a page saying it's a truly sad day when what they assumed in 2011 was shocking and could never happen has become real. That they are deeply sorrowful at the events that have unfolded in this city over the last few weeks. And, in deference to popular outrage have chosen to take down an old site, and replace it with a different message: one that allows people to show support. With a domain like theirs, I would have tried to setup a forum, encouraging people to vote on the best way to make this city a better, safer, place,” added Nag.
However, Saurabh Parmar, Founder & CEO Brandlogist Communications, a brand consultancy firm, supported BC Web Wise taking down the website, but also added that they should have engaged in a larger debate and in more a creative way.
“Ideally they should do something more constructive about the issue. Since they entered into this discussion it could be useful for them to understand what people expect of them and act accordingly. In case they completely believe in their stand have a constructive discussion or even debate about it and not a personal argument,” added Parmar.
Suggesting ways of what the agency could have done better, Deepak Goel of Drizzlin said that this was a case of creative rendition going wrong and BC Web Wise’s intention should not be questioned over here. “Instead of creating a website, the agency could have held a debate/discussion on their Facebook page. Through that they could have monitored the number of users aligning themselves to the campaign better. They could have even done a Google Hangout and attract participation from the people,” added Goel.
Pradeep Chopra of Digital Vidya was of the opinion that though he respects the team at BC Web Wise and their work, they underestimated the sensitivity of the situation. “They could have taken a different and probably more direct approach to express the message and their true intention behind it. Here's an example of how Amul reacted to the situation,” said Chopra.
Narendra Nag of MSLGROUP India Social believed that there's a lesson in here somewhere. “It could be that context is everything, and our attitudes towards rape have changed in the last few days. I can only hope this popular outrage isn't something that lasts for the next few weeks and then fades into our collective memory as a way to describe Delhi's winter in 2013.”
Saurabh Parmar of BrandLogist said, “Though a lot of people probably said some similar stuff on their own wall and their tweets, it assumes quite a different shape when a brand does the same. A constructive effort would have been much more appreciated than something which came across as a PR stunt.”
Parmar rounded it up properly saying that, “Internet is social at it’s core with what people think, believe and talk about.” And brands and agencies have to realize that you can’t intrude without truly understanding what the people’s sentiment around a topic is.
“Anger is already at its peak due to the recent rape incident in Delhi and there's no space for tolerance for any action or communication which can hurt the feelings. The communication on ThingsToDoInDelhi added the fuel to the already burning fire in the minds of netizens,” concluded Pradeep Chopra.
