“Heartfelt Apology,” Says The Agency Who Led Poonam Pandey Fake Death Campaign
After facing massive backlash over leading Poonam Pandey fake death public relations campaign, Schbang, the agency which carried out the campaign, expressed ‘heartfelt apologies’.
Here is the full statement:
“Yes, we were involved in the initiative for Poonam Pandey to spread awareness about Cervical Cancer in collaboration with Hauterfly.
To start off, we would like to extend a heartfelt apology – especially towards those who have been triggered as a result of having faced/ having a loved one face the hardships of any kind of Cancer.
Our actions were driven by a singular mission – to elevate awareness about Cervical Cancer. In 2022, India registered 123,907 Cervical Cancer cases and 77,348 deaths. After Breast Cancer, Cervical Cancer is the second-most frequent malignancy affecting middle aged women in India.
Many of you may be unaware but Poonam”s own mother has bravely battled Cancer. Having been through the challenges of battling a disease like this at such close personal quarters, she understands the importance of prevention and the criticality of awareness, especially when a vaccine is available.
There was no change in people”s curiosity regarding Cervical Cancer when our
Honourable Finance Minister mentioned it no less than a few days ago during the Union Budget.
This act by Poonam has now resulted in making “Cervical Cancer” and its terms the most searched topic(s) on Google. This is the first time in the history of this country that the word “Cervical Cancer” has been on 1000+ Headlines.
Nevertheless we are deeply apologetic to those who may have been hurt due to this initiative.
We understand that our methods may have sparked debate about the approach. While we regret any distress caused, if the move results in spreading much needed awareness and preventing deaths, that would be it”s real impact.
We want to clarify that this is a pro-bono activity and not commercially linked to any client.
This is a Cancer for which 93% of cases are preventable according to the USCDC via a vaccine and everything we do is in service of this being prevented.
We hope that the start of this conversation serves as a catalyst for raising life saving awareness about not only Cervical Cancer, but all preventable diseases.”
Poonam Pandey”s latest publicity stunt has triggered a wave of criticism from netizens. On Friday, February 2, Poonam Pandey”s manager announced the model”s death due to cervical cancer. This announcement was made in a post shared on Poonam Pandey”s official Instagram handle. “Deeply saddened to inform you that we have lost our beloved Poonam to cervical cancer,” the post read.
On Saturday, Poonam Pandey put an end to all speculations and clarified that she is alive. “I am sorry caused this tear and I am sorry to those I have hurt. My intention to shock everyone into the conversation that we are not talking enough about – cervical cancer,” said the actress in an Instagram video. Netizens severely criticised the controversial actress for making fake death claims and lying to the public for promotional content. “Next time people won”t take you seriously, you just destroyed your entire credibility,” commented a user.
