A social media post claiming that an Indian actress had died of cervical cancer and a video posted the next day announcing that she was alive have sparked a heated debate over the ethics of online advertising campaigns in India.
A social media post claiming that an Indian actress had died of cervical cancer and a video posted the next day announcing that she was alive have sparked a heated debate over the ethics of online advertising campaigns in India.
On Friday (2/2), actress Poonam Pandey’s official Instagram account announced that the 32-year-old actress had “bravely fought the disease” and passed away.
Many believed so, the media covered the news and social networks were full of tributes to the actress.
Poonam acted in a few films but became an online celebrity due to her controversial posts and participation in ad campaigns.
In 2011, for example, the actress promised that she would take off her clothes if the cricket team won the World Cup, but ultimately didn’t.
The controversy really began when, the next day, Pandey posted a video to her 1.3 million Instagram followers in which she claimed she had “faked her death” as part of a cervical cancer awareness campaign.
“Suddenly we’re all talking about cervical cancer, right?” Poonam said in the video, adding that she was “proud” of what the news of her death “could achieve.”
Often called the “silent killer,” cervical cancer does not generate noticeable symptoms in the early stages of the disease.
But it is the second most common cancer among women in India, responsible for more than 77,000 deaths every year, behind only breast cancer.
It is also one of the most preventable cancers, as the HPV (human papilloma virus) vaccine protects against some cancer-causing strains of the virus.
But regular testing is still recommended, as the vaccine does not protect against all strains of HPV that can cause cancer.
Vaccination campaign
On Thursday, a day before Poonam faked her death, India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the government was taking steps to vaccinate girls aged between nine and 14, without providing details about the campaign.
Poonam’s post led many social media users to speculate that Pandey’s posts were part of the government’s strategy to promote the HPV vaccine, but neither the government nor Pandey confirmed the link.
Over the weekend, the post and video sparked a debate over the method used to draw attention to a problem as serious as cervical cancer.
While some people praised the campaign for “shocking” people enough to make them care about the disease, many called it insensitive to those battling cancer or who have lost family members to the disease.
“Death is no joke,” wrote one user on X (formerly Twitter), while another, who lost his father to cancer when he was a child, said he found the campaign unpleasant because it brought him back sad memories come to mind.
Some also criticized the press for reporting Poonam’s death without verifying the information.
“Poonam Pandey’s death was followed by the death of the Indian press. No scrutiny, no fact-checking… None of that mattered. She came back to life today. I can’t say the same about our journalism,” he wrote a user on X.
Some journalists, however, defended the decision to report the death, claiming that the news had been shared by the actress’s official Instagram account.
Schbang, the agency behind the campaign, apologized on Saturday to those who felt the campaign had been “triggered”.
“Our actions have been guided by one mission: to raise awareness about cervical cancer,” the agency said in a statement, sharing statistics regarding the prevalence of the disease in India.
The statement also said that Poonam’s mother had battled cancer and that the actress “understands the importance of prevention and awareness, especially when a vaccine is available.”
But the negative repercussions of the campaign are not over yet and have led to the question of whether it is acceptable for the search for effectiveness in an awareness campaign to be above ethics.
Some have also asked who is responsible for setting these standards: the advertisers, the media or the viewers?
Source: Terra
Ben Stock is a lifestyle journalist and author at Gossipify. He writes about topics such as health, wellness, travel, food and home decor. He provides practical advice and inspiration to improve well-being, keeps readers up to date with latest lifestyle news and trends, known for his engaging writing style, in-depth analysis and unique perspectives.
