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Indian Court Grants PepsiCo's Takedown Request Targeting Thousands Of 'Disparaging' Social Media Posts

from the I-love-the-smell-of-burning-Kurkure-in-the-morning dept

A global conglomerate concerned about the reputation of its plastic “safe vegetarian” snack has talked an Indian court into ordering the blocking of thousands of posts it finds disparaging. MediaNama has more details (and links to court docs!) on PepsiCo’s social media purge.

PepsiCo has obtained an interim order from the Delhi High Court to delete hundreds of posts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, documents obtained by MediaNama reveal. PepsiCo confirmed the development in a statement to MediaNama. These posts, PepsiCo said in its petition, furthered the myth that PepsiCo’s Kurkure corn puffs product contains plastic. The civil defamation suit compiles years of posts on the social media platforms, demanding that they be taken down. There are 3412 Facebook links, 20244 Facebook posts, 242 YouTube videos, 6 Instagram links, and 562 tweets that have been ordered removed.

This order [PDF] covers more than just content heavily insinuating PepsiCo’s Kurkure snack is made of plastic. It also covers posts joking about the subject or satirizing the mini-hysteria surrounding the suddenly-infamous snack. This followed another courtroom win in India for the snack maker.

Earlier this year, it obtained an order blocking social media posts claiming Lay’s potato chips were made of plastic. (It was also claimed the potato chips would kill those who consumed them, which they will, but eventually, not immediately.) PepsiCo, however, did not issue a statement at that time insisting Lay’s chips were a “100% safe, vegetarian snack made from trusted, high quality everyday kitchen ingredients.”

The social media posts drawing the most heat from Pepsi have been those in which the snack is lit on fire as evidence of its inherent dangerousness (and supposed plastic content). As Pepsi noted in its complaint, the snack product is indeed flammable, just as many snacks are.

“Any food item containing carbohydrate, oil and protein, will burn when exposed to fire,” the petition said, listing out a series of safety certifications its products and factories have received.

Companies are obviously interested in protecting their brands, but the interim blocking orders obtained by Pepsi target more than idiots claiming its snacks are as harmful as vaccinations. It also took down posts mocking the idiots because nuance and context are the first things to go when seeking takedowns at scale. This tweet mocks the spread of “news” on Whatsapp by listing a couple of bogus news items apparently making the rounds.

If you can’t read/see the screenshot, the Twitter conversation goes as follows:

Prasanto K Roy: For many, news breaks on WhatsApp. “Did you HEAR the news?!! Kurkure has plastic! Coke melts teeth” @ndcnn @gautamghosh @malabhargava

KurkureSnacks: @prasanto @ndcnn @GautamGhosh @malabhargava Kurkure is 100%safe made with rice,corn & besan.It doesn’t contain plastic.Don’t believe rumours

Prasanto K Roy: @KurkureSnacks yes I know; that was my point. The “news” on WhatsApp–isn’t.

The tweet has been withheld in India, despite Pepsi’s own response to one of the claims made and despite the Twitter user making it clear he was mocking the spread of bogus “facts.” (Pepsi did not offer to correct the record on Coke’s shocking ability to generate life “melt teeth.”)

The order Pepsi obtained not only demands the deletion/withholding of nearly 20,000 social media posts, but it also instructs the platforms to withhold/delete any post offending Pepsi until this case is fully adjudicated. This veers pretty close to prior restraint, something India’s Supreme Court has actually ruled against. The only thing saving it from becoming a free speech violation is the notification requirement, which means the “offending” content must first be published before Pepsi can demand to have it removed.

But it still stinks a bit like censorship. The Indian government is aiding PepsiCo’s reputation management scheme by granting this blanket request which ignores the context of certain users’ posts. In doing so, Pepsi is no better than any company that issues DMCA takedown requests based on keywords and deciding everything returned in a search must be infringing. In addition, Pepsi’s own filing shows the company has engaged in plenty of counterspeech, which is a remedy anyone can use without having to bring the government into it. Finally, the targets of Pepsi’s actions should be the people disparaging its products, not the social media companies hosting the content. But it’s always easier to target social media platforms than the actual offenders, especially in countries that don’t offer immunity to service providers for user-generated content.

Filed Under: censorship, disparagement, free speech, india, jokes, kurkure
Companies: pepsi, pepsico

Famous Prankster 'The Internet' Hijacks Another Promotional Campaign

from the you-really-can't-specify-which-'crowd'-you-want-to-'source'- dept

You know what The Internet does better than nearly anything else? If you answered, “Provide me with a creative and useful list of potential product names,” go ahead and add that to the PowerPoint deck and hope no one asks for a citation. If you answered, “Find some way to add bodily fluids, Hitler and 'manual override' to our branded site featuring our prominent logo,” go ahead and add that to your “Life Experiences” portfolio you’re currently boxing up under the watchful eye of your security escort over at PepsiCo’s headquarters.

Understandably, PepsiCo probably felt safe doing this. After all, when it had run a rather straightforward campaign, in which Facebook users voted for the next Mtn Dew flavor, it had the good sense to limit The Internet’s input to three buttons. Perhaps feeling a bit overconfident, PepsiCo went to the same well again, hoping to name its new green apple-flavored soda. Only this time, it thought the Mtn Dew-swilling internet denizens might appreciate a bit more interaction. But giving The Internet an open text box for submissions without even bothering to do even the most cursory vetting of replies is only going to end the way everyone (but the corporate marketing team) knew it would: depravity mixed with Godwin’s law, garnished with a side of Wilford Brimley.

Here’s the voting results as seen shortly before the site went down:

Beyond the weird Grandma fetish and the masturbation jokes is a long list of (believe it or not) more offensive suggestions, snagged for posterity by a helpful reddit user. (Link only. Gallery runs seven pages deep and includes some other hilarious suggestions for the new Dew name, including “Coke,” “Sierra Mist,” “Never Going To Give You Upple,”WE’VE RUN OUT OF COLORS,” “Solient Green,” and, of course, “mtn jew.” Reading list out loud probably NSFW.)

Here’s a slightly earlier version, which seems to have appeared before some rudimentary cleanup was performed by the Dew team, which not only brings one of The Internet’s favorite references to the top of the list, but also drops a completely trollish scrolling headline right over the top of the website:

Mtn Dew’s official Twitter account ceded the battle on the 14th, having given up its dream of something usable like “Tempest” or “Green Flash” score near the top of the list. (Sadly, I don’t think “Methamphetagreen” will make the cut.) A very concise concession, done neatly in less than 140 characters but still resonant enough to make one feel momentarily bad about splattering well-aged fluids all over the “little guy” who happened to be in the wrong place ('The Internet') at the wrong time ('ALWAYS').

@antderosa Dub the Dew definitely lost to The Internet. It was a local customer program, not a Dew one, & we’re helping them clean up — Mountain Dew® (@mtn_dew) August 14, 2012

Adding to the fun is the fact that no established prankster-heavy online entity wants to take credit for whitewashing Hitler’s past/celebrating the unexpectedly feisty sexual activity of women in their “golden years.” Reddit says 4chan did it. 4chan claims Reddit is behind the Hitler/Granny/diabeetus debacle. It all very definitely looks like a 4chan effort, but the truth is probably closer to “a bit of both.” Does anyone seriously believe Reddit and 4chan share no common members?

But after all is said and done, PepsiCo might have lost this particular battle, but overall it wins the war. Plenty of people spent more time thinking about MTN Dew (and Hitler… and… dear lord… Grandma) then they would have otherwise. A few months down the road, “Tempest” (probably) will appear in stores and be purchased by curious Dew fans, wondering internally if “Fapple” or “Grannies Spurt” better describes the flavor. Externally, everything else will be as it always was. And The Internet will sit by quietly, waiting for someone to call its name.

Filed Under: crowdsourcing, mountain dew
Companies: pepsico