Flipkart's Sachin Bansal extends support to rival Snapdeal

Says targeting Snapdeal for its affiliation to Aamir Khan is flawed logic

Sachin Bansal, CEO of Flipkart, has extended his support to rival e-commerce marketplace Snapdeal, which has come under attack by users for its affiliation to Bollywood actor Aamir Khan.

"This is flawed logic. Brands don't buy into brand ambassador's personal opinions. Snapdeal should not face this," Bansal tweeted on Wednesday.

Snapdeal brought in Khan as its brand ambassador in March this year. Following the actor's statement on intolerance in the country and that his wife Kiran Rao had wondered if they should move overseas, users retaliated by offering one-star ratings for the company's app on Apple and Google app stores and are campaigning to boycott its services.
 

 

Snapdeal hasn't yet issued an official statement on the issue; it continues to use a banner with a photo of Aamir Khan on its official Twitter handle. Bansal went on to reply to comments his tweet received saying that "people change their opinions and get new thoughts all the time. Brands can't know that at the time of signing up."

Flipkart faced a similar assault from users earlier this year when news of the company's affiliation with Airtel Zero (a zero rating service that was seen as violating net neutrality norms) broke. The backlash from users on social media and campaigns to boycott the app forced the company to withdraw its support for the program.