'Boycott Cadbury' trends on Twitter as Diwali advertisement draws flak

Cadbury India released a brand advertisement video for Diwali. The brand intends to show in the video how people can bring smiles and happiness to the faces of the poor by gifting them on Diwali. Customers initially responded positively to the video. However, a month after its release, the video received backlash on social media platforms.  

'Boycott Cadbury' began trending on Twitter on Sunday, as social media users targeted the company's recent Diwali advertisement and fake claims of 'beef' being used in Cadbury products. Sadhvi Prachi, a VHP leader, shared the Cadbury advertisement and objected to the use of 'Damodar' as the name of a poor lamp seller, claiming that it was done to portray "someone with PM Narendra Modi's father's name in a negative light." "Chaiwale ke baap diyewala," Sadhvi Prachi tweeted, as many others called for a boycott of Cadbury products in India.

This is not the first time Cadbury has faced criticism from Indian Twitter users. A similar boycott call was issued in 2021, prompting the company to issue a statement clarifying that all of its products in India are 100 per cent vegetarian, as indicated by the green dot on the wrapper.

Twitter users who started the 'Boycott Cadbury' trend shared a screenshot of the Cadbury website's product description page in Australia. "Please note that if any of our Australian products contain gelatine in the ingredients, the gelatine we use is halal certified and derived from beef," the company said. 

The viral screenshot claims that the beef in Cadbury products does not originate in India. Previously, when the same charges were levelled against Cadbury, Mondelez India, which manufactures Cadbury Daily Milk, cleared that its Indian products are 100 per cent vegetarian.