Find Out What This Brand Had To

Say When A Customer Tried To Malign It

On Facebook
A frustrated customer expresses dissatisfaction over an Amul milk brand on Facebook, Amul
investigates to reveal that the customer is knowingly maligning the brand on Facebook
Prasant NaiduOctober 14, 2014Insights

One of the reasons brands choose to avoid social media is because it is a double-edged sword.
Times are changing, forward thinking brands are not only present on social media, but also
engaging on the network and at difficult times using the same medium to manage their
reputation. Amul India, a trusted household name for its food products is doing the same right
now managing its online reputation on Facebook after an unhappy customer posted pictures
of one of Amuls milk brand gone bad.

The customer Neha Tomars story

Neha Tomar from the capital city took to Facebook when she found out that the Amul Gold
Milk she had purchased on 10th October, 2014 isnt suitable to consume. Neha wrote, It is
some dangerous substance that came out. I thank to god that my family did not consumed this
milk. I wonder what would have happened if we would have consumed this. I request

everyone to stop taking Amul milk, as we need to take strict actions to stop Amul from
making this deadly milk.
The Facebook post along with four photographs got shared close to 70K times and has been
liked by close to 10K users on the social network. Looking at the numbers it is safe to say
that the post had gone viral.

Nehas Facebook post

Meanwhile Neha on the same day also initiated a petition on Change.org requesting our PM
Narendra Modi to stop Amul India making such products which are not suitable for
consumption. The petition addressed to Indias Health Minister has received 443 supporters
on the forum. The same was also shared on Facebook which again received more than 62
shares and 139 likes.
Along with these activities, the Amul India Facebook page was also being spammed by other
worried consumers; they raised questions on the brand they have trusted over generations.

The brand Amul Indias story

Amul India, which has a million plus fans on Facebook and is quite popular online for its
likeable content, updated its fans with an elaborate response on the matter. The message

posted by the brand raised some pertinent issues and how users on social media were taking
undue opportunity of the medium.
According to Amul, Neha in the first place was using milk which had already passed the use
by date. In other words she bought an expired product.
However, Amul says that, It may be noted that Ms Neha posted her grievance on her
Facebook page on 9th October, a day prior to her informing us about the same. Our officials
asked the customer that if she has faced the problem on 10th Oct, how is it possible for you to
post the same on 9th on Facebook? We now see that the timing of her post has been changed
to 10th.

Nehas post on 9th

Amul kept in touch with the customer, visited her house and provided technical reasons for
the incident. We informed her that we checked all the batches of the same Amul Milk and
found that there is no problem in any batches including the one which consumer had
purchased.
Besides, Amul has posted a video on YouTube to clarify the stretchy mass issue that was
created while the customer was making cheese from the sour milk. Any natural milk
(branded/unbranded) which is acidified (sour) in the chilled condition and then heated shall
result in curd mass which shows stretching property similar to that of mozzarella cheese.
Amul assured its fans on Facebook that there has been absolutely no problem with the fresh
milk being supplied in the last six decades. However, it has accused Neha for deliberately

trying to malign the brand online. Based on the misrepresentation of facts by the said
consumer, we infer that the expired milk used by the complainant was deliberately abused to
malign the brand.
The company has also claimed that she has been misusing her office to publicize this story on
Amul. We hope that she has informed her office regarding the same as we shall hold her
office too responsible for her actions. The Facebook post by Amul has garnered 687 shares
and 1.6K likes.

Is the customer maligning Amuls reputation online?

Before we look into the facts laid out on Facebook, let me appreciate how Amul India has
dealt the entire episode. At a time when most brands ignore or are behind the customer to
delete the post, Amul has investigated the entire issue with great maturity.
The first evident question that comes to mind is that why did Neha post about the grievance
on 9th October when she faced the problem on 10 th. We are yet to hear from Neha on the
same and what she has to say about the screenshot provided by Amul India on Facebook.
The other issue that Amul has raised is on Neha misusing her office to publicize the story.
While Amul has not elaborated anything here but it is interesting to note that Neha is a Senior
Legal Officer at Public Health Foundation of India.
In the last post Neha made on the issue she highlighted that Amul executives had taken the
matter seriously and were looking into it. A team of Q & A and production will be coming to
meet me regarding the issue. I am hoping to hear good answers from them. I am glad that
they have shown interest in their consumer complaint.
But there isnt any update from Neha on Amuls latest post blaming her of maligning its
reputation.
While people may debate about the tone and the stance that the brand has taken on Facebook
but one cant take a brand for a ride on social media. The product that Neha was using had
expired and thereafter what she did is understandable in the hyper social media times. But the
claims made by Amul on the date and misusing her office to publicize the story is really not
acceptable. It is also interesting to note that the update that she has posted on Facebook on the
feedback is not correct says the brand She even told that our officers that she will update
the same post on 13th evening. But till time of posting this, it has not been updated with
correct information. This clearly reflects that she has malafide intentions. Also, the facts have
been carefully concealed by her to generate and sustain the hype.
There have been cases when brands have taken a customer for a ride and the customer has
fought back using social media. This is vice versa.
It would be interesting to know what Neha has to say on the allegations made by Amul, next
on her Facebook wall? Will Amul sue her on the grounds of intentionally maligning the brand
online?