The post was shared on LinkedIn
A woman in Bengaluru took to social media to publicly criticise Zepto, a quick-commerce platform, for sending her a push notification that addressed her as “cutie.” The promotional message, intended to advertise a brand of banana chips, caused outrage due to its ‘inappropriate’ tone.
Mahak Verma, the recipient of the message, took to X (formerly Twitter) to express her disappointment. The notification read, “cutie_mahak, you got a follow request from Namaskaram Banana Chips Original Style Salted.” Verma argued that it was unacceptable for a reputable brand to address a stranger in such a manner.
In a LinkedIn post, Verma explained, “Yesterday, I received a push notification from Zepto, which very conveniently addressed me as ‘Cutie_mahak.’ It instantly reminded me of all the uncomfortable experiences many teenage girls in India endure.” She went on to criticize Zepto, highlighting the importance of respect and professionalism in brand communication, especially in an era of startups and women’s safety awareness under POSH (Prevention of Sexual Harassment) laws.
Verma also shared her concerns about how calling someone “random adverbs” is not appropriate, emphasising that women’s safety begins with respect in everyday interactions. When she conducted a poll on Instagram about the notification, some of her friends suggested she might be overreacting.
This incident is not Zepto’s first controversy regarding its messaging. Recently, the company faced backlash for sending a similar unsolicited notification to another woman in Bengaluru. The message promoting a contraceptive pill read, “I miss you, Pallavi,” followed by the name of the contraceptive and three crying emojis. The message left Pallavi Pareek, the recipient, shocked and questioning the company’s ethical practices. Zepto later apologized to Pareek on LinkedIn, acknowledging the mistake, saying, “Hey Pallavi, we messed up, and we’re truly sorry. We understand how thoughtless and potentially harmful this was.”
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