Brands fretting as negative influencers rise, pushed toward credibility

livemint.com:

Mint's queries to Nataraj and Thakran did not receive a response till press time. In the past, companies such as Mamaearth, Dabur India and Mondelez, have sent legal notices to influencers to take posts that were critical of their products. Queries sent to Mamaearth, Dabur and Mondelez went unanswered till press time.

Then, last year, Mondelez took legal action against health content-related de-influencer Revant Himatsingka alias Foodpharmer, who boasts 2.7 million followers on Instagram. Himatsingka's post against Bournvita, the company's health food drink brand, went viral, but he suspended the video after receiving a legal notice from Mondelez. “Earlier, I would delete my video when companies used to send me legal notices," Himatsingka, who has received six legal notices so far, told Mint.

“Now, I try to fight back as I understand they don't have factual grounds and are only trying to shut me up... I just want brands to be scared as well." Mondelez eventually dismissed claims made by Himatsingka. Email queries sent to the company remained unanswered.

While it's hard to ascertain whether Himatsingka's posts had a bearing on sales of health food drinks, over the past year, different regulators have taken action to curb sales of the "health drinks" category. On 10 April, the commerce and industry ministry's Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) advised e-commerce platforms to remove drinks and beverages categorized as health drinks from their platforms, citing a lack of standards and definition of health drinks under India's food laws. meanwhile, the Advertising Standards Council of India, an advertising watchdog, is of the view that influencers who speak of health or financial benefits should